A Growers Guide to Quality Potato Seed

Unlike traditional true seed, potato seed is a vegetatively propagated crop. A potato tuber can be uncut (single drop), cut once, twice or in some cases, three times. These seed pieces are then treated with some fungicide or pesticide, covered in a protective coating and planted into the ground. Starting with a healthy mother plant that produces daughter tubers for cutting is important because those characteristics exhibited in the mother plant will also be exhibited within the daughter tubers. For this reason there are many factors that should go into choosing the right quality of seed to utilize for commercial production. After some research, four main characteristics that affect the quality of potato seed have been determined: physiological age, seed genetics, size and seed health. These four characteristics can have a substantial effect on the vigor, health and overall outcome of a crop. These characteristics should be considered when purchasing seed to ensure growers are buying high-quality seed. Purchasing certified seed plays a large role in the seed health aspect and there will be a brief discussion on seed certification programs. The intent of this manual is to describe the importance of potato seed quality, explore the process of potato seed production from the seed grower to the commercial grower, and to define the characteristics of high-quality potato seed

Estimating rainfall erosivity from daily precipitation records: a comparison among methods using data from the Ebro Basin (NE Spain)

Among the major factors controlling soil erosion, as vegetation cover or soil erodibility, rainfall erosivity has a paramount importance since it is difficult to predict and control by humans. Accurate estimation of rainfall erosivity requires continuous rainfall data; however, such data rarely demonstrate good spatial and temporal coverage. Daily weather records are now commonly available, providing good coverage that better represents rainfall intensity behavior than do more aggregated rainfall data. In the present study annual rainfall erosivity was estimated from daily rainfall records, and compared to data obtained employing the RUSLE R factor procedure. A spatially-dense precipitation database of high temporal resolution (15 min) was used. Two methodologies were applied: (i) daily rainfall erosivity estimated using several parametric models, and, (ii) annual rainfall erosivity estimated by regression-based techniques employing several intensity precipitation indices and the modified Fournier index. To determine the accuracy of estimates, several goodness-of-fit and error statistics were computed in addition to a spatial distribution comparison. The daily rainfall erosivity models accurately predicted annual rainfall erosivity. Parametric models with few combined parameters and a periodic function simulating intra-annual rainfall behavior provided the best results. Where daily rainfall records were not available, good estimates of annual rainfall erosivity were also obtained using regression-based techniques based on 5-day maximum precipitation events, the maximum wet spell duration, and the ratio between the lengths of average wet and dry spells. Inherent limitations remain in the use of daily weather records for estimating rainfall erosivity. Future research should focus on incorporating measures of natural rainfall properties of the particular region, including kinetic energy and intensity, and their effects on the soil.We thank the Ebro River Hydrographical Confederation (Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro; CHE) for providing the data used in this study. The research of M.A. was supported by a JAE-Predoc Research Grant from the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; CSIC).Peer reviewe

Grounding systems for power supply facilities

This study aims to define some recommendations for choice of grounding system type for power supply facility. Operating modes of 0.4 kV networks approved by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) were considered and their advantages and disadvantages were identified. The comparison criteria were based on the conditions of human safety from electric shock in the breakdown of insulation on the body of electrical equipment, possibilities of expanding the network and uninterruptible power supply. The real application of the neutral modes and the possibility of installing protective devices were also taken into account. All the recommendations made is planned to apply for the modernization of the urban networks and the calculation of the earthing arrangement by using special software

The Trajectory Model for Track Fitting and Alignment

This note introduces the concept of Trajectories. The LHCb trajectory model and the implementation in the track fitting and tracking sub-detector code as in Brunel v31r2 are described. The possible use of trajectories for alignment is outlined

Engineering Logical Inflammation Sensing Circuit for Modulating Gut Conditions

The mammalian gut contains trillions of microbes that interact with host cells and monitor changes in the environment. Opportunistic pathogens exploit environmental conditions to stimulate their growth and virulence, leading to a resurgence of chronic disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Current therapies are effective in less than 30% of patients due to the lack of adherence to prescription schedules and overall, off-target effects. Smart microbial therapeutics can be engineered to colonize the gut, providing in situ surveillance and conditional disease modulation. However, many current engineered microbes can only respond to single gut environmental factors, limiting their effectiveness. In this work, we implement the previously characterized split activator AND logic gate in the probiotic E. coli strain Nissle 1917. Our system can respond to two input signals: the inflammatory biomarker tetrathionate and a second input signal, IPTG. We report 4-6 fold induction with minimal leak when both signals are present. We model the dynamics of the AND gate using chemical reaction networks, and by tuning parameters in silico, we identified perturbations that affect our circuit's selectivity. We anticipate that our results will prove useful for designing living therapeutics for spatial targeting and signal processing in complex environments

Comparison of Retention Forces of Different Fabrication Methods of Co-Cr Crowns: Pre-sintered and Milled, Cast and Electroforming Secondary Crowns with Different Taper Angles

To investigate the retention forces of differently fabricated secondary crowns made of Co-Cr alloy and electroforming secondary crowns considering different taper angles. Cobalt-chromium primary crowns with 0°, 1° and 2° taper angles were fabricated. Secondary crowns were made either by i.) a milling and sintering, ii.) casting or iii.) electro-forming process. Pull-off tests were performed and data were analyzed by parametric statistics (p<0.05). With regard to the different taper angles, Co-Cr milled and cast groups, no impact on retention force was observed. Within the electroforming group, primary crowns with a taper angle of 1° showed a higher retention force than crowns with angles of 0° or 2°. With respect to the secondary crowns, primary crowns with a taper angle of 1° showed no impact on the results. Within the taper angles of 0° and 2°, the electroforming group exhibited lower retention forces than cast or milled ones. In the 0° taper angle group, milled secondary crowns displayed higher values than cast ones

Design of a robotic hand with a biologically-inspired parallel actuation system for prosthetic applications

Trabajo presentado al 34th Annual Mechanisms and Robotics Conference celebrado en Quebec del 15 al 18 de agosto de 2010.This paper presents the design of a robotic hand for prosthetic applications. The main characteristic of this robotic hand is its biologically-inspired parallel actuation system, which is based on the behavior/strength space of the Flexor Digitorum Profundus (FDP) and the Flexor Digitorum Superficialis (FDS) muscles. The design separates the strength space of the FDS and FDP muscles into a lighter strength region where finer manipulation and general approach tasks are executed, and a higher strength region where the more robust grasps are achieved. Two parallel actuator types and kinematic structures are designed to complement the requirements of both strength space regions.This research was performed under an award/contract from Telemedicine Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) of the U.S. Department of Defense.Peer Reviewe