Control of venturia inaequalis: substitutes for and reduced use of copper

In 2001 eleven different apple scab control strategies with reduced copper use and copper substitutes were tested on an organic apple orchard near Hamburg, Germany. The strategies were tested on a six year old "Elstar" plantation. Among the different fungicides were copper sulphate, copper hydroxide, lime sulphur, sulphur, bacillus subtilis and "Biofa-Algenextrakt". The results show that fruit scab as well as leave scab can be fairly well controlled by a lime sulphur strategy and the copper hydroxid strategies. Bad results were produced with the different copper sulphate strategies and bacillus subtilis, insufficient results with the sulphur strategies

Netzschwefel als Multitalent zur Behandlung von Krankheiten und Schaderregern im ökologischen Kernobstanbau

In the last eight years research work has been done at the Fruit Research and Extension Centre Jork (OVB Jork) on strategies to control apple scab (Venturia inaequalis), powdery mildew of apple (Podosphaera leucotricha), sooty blotch(several fungis) and apple rust mite (Aculus schlechtendali) on organic grown pome fruit. Since 1997 different control strategies with reduced copper use and copper substitutes and sulphur with different application rates were tested in several trials on trees in organic apple orchards near Hamburg, Germany. The strategies were tested on the cultivar `Elstar´. The results show that sulphur has significant effects to control fruit scab, leave scab, powdery mildew, sooty blotch and rust mite

Results in research on lime sulphur and other products to control apple scab under northern German climate conditions

In 2003 six apple scab control strategies were tested, three with only lime sulphur in different application strategies, another three strategies with different amounts of copper. The strategies were tested in an organic apple orchard near Hamburg, Germany, on a 15 year old `Elstar´ plantation. Due to the recorded infection periods and the infection load the different strategies were tested. The results show that a proper lime sulphur strategy is quite successful to fight apple scab (< 4% infected fruit), has good side effects on apple mildew (< 2%) and only little russetting (< 5%) compared to strategies with copper fungicides. ablto fight fruit scab as well as leave scab. A proper strategy means no application later than 15 hours after infection, enough spraying water (drip off), usage of a 1,5-2% lime sulphur-solution and only very little direct sunlight

The geometrical shape of mesenchymal stromal cells measured by quantitative shape descriptors is determined by the stiffness of the biomaterial and by cyclic tensile forces

Controlling mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) shape is a novel method for investigating and directing MSC behaviour in vitro. it was hypothesized that specifigc MSC shapes can be generated by using stiffnessâ defined biomaterial surfaces and by applying cyclic tensile forces. Biomaterials used were thin and thick silicone sheets, fibronectin coating, and compacted collagen type I sheets. The MSC morphology was quantified by shape descriptors describing dimensions and membrane protrusions. Nanoscale stiffness was measured by atomic force microscopy and the expression of smooth muscle cell (SMC) marker genes (ACTA2, TAGLN, CNN1) by quantitative reverseâ transcription polymerase chain reaction. Cyclic stretch was applied with 2.5% or 5% amplitudes. Attachment to biomaterials with a higher stiffness yielded more elongated MSCs with fewer membrane protrusions compared with biomaterials with a lower stiffness. For cyclic stretch, compacted collagen sheets were selected, which were associated with the most elongated MSC shape across all investigated biomaterials. As expected, cyclic stretch elongated MSCs during stretch. One hour after cessation of stretch, however, MSC shape was rounder again, suggesting loss of stretchâ induced shape. Different shape descriptor values obtained by different stretch regimes correlated significantly with the expression levels of SMC marker genes. Values of approximately 0.4 for roundness and 3.4 for aspect ratio were critical for the highest expression levels of ACTA2 and CNN1. Thus, specific shape descriptor values, which can be generated using biomaterialâ associated stiffness and tensile forces, can serve as a template for the induction of specific gene expression levels in MSC. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141253/1/term2263.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141253/2/term2263_am.pd

Monitoring of total copper contents in organically and conventionally managed soils. Part 4: – Total contents in German pomiculture soils

Die Auswirkungen dauerhafter Anwendung kupferhaltiger Fungizide auf die Nachhaltigkeit der Bodengüte sind im Rahmen der Europäischen Wirkstoffzulassung Gegenstand eines EU-weiten Programms zur Erfassung der Kupfer­gehalte im Boden geworden. 1613 Einzelproben wurden aus den Bodenhorizonten 0–5 und 5–20&nbsp;cm von Baumobstlagen an 40 ökologisch und 12 konventionell bewirtschafteten Standorten unter den Aspekten einer möglichst repräsentativen Erfassung der Belastungsverteilung entnommen. Das Erhebungs­ergebnis soll als Grundlage für die Auswahl gebietstypischer Anbausituationen dienen, die in Verbindung mit einer spezifischen Expositionsermittlung die Erfassung der Wirkungsausprägung an empfindlichen Indikator­arten der jeweiligen Regenwurmzönosen ermöglicht. Auf der Basis von Gesamtgehalten wird die Belastungssituation und -verteilung auf Prüfflächen und Referenzflächen in deutschen Baumobstbaugebieten als Minimal-, Mittel- und Maximalwert sowie für verschiedene Perzentile dargestellt. Darüber hinaus werden aus der Bewirtschaftungshistorie resultierende Schwermetallein­träge quantifiziert und Belastungsunterschiede zwischen Obstbaumreihen und Fahrgassen diskutiert. Bei der Belastungserhebung konnte durch Verknüpfung von Daten zur Bewirtschaftungsgeschichte mit vorhandenen Flächenbelastungen in Verbindung mit beispielhaft für das Anbaugebiet Niederelbe ermittelten Kupferaufwandmengen im Zeitraum 1960 bis 2010 nachgewiesen werden, dass diese Belastungen aus den Jahren 1960 bis etwa 1995 resultieren, wo noch zwischen 10 und 13&nbsp;kg Reinkupfer pro Jahr und Hektar zur Schaderregerbekämpfung im Baumobstbau angewandt wurden. Welche Anteile von diesen ‚gealterten’ Kupfergesamtgehalten bioverfügbar sind und damit auf die Bodenzönose wirken, wird derzeit untersucht. Anhand der in der Vorbeprobung erhobenen Daten zur Belastungssituation, Standortbeschreibung und Bewirtschaftungsdauer werden 2 bis 3 Baumobstlagen vorgeschlagen, die sich für eine biologische Statuserhebung zu Auswirkungen auf die Regenwurmzönose eignen. &nbsp; &nbsp;Implications of long-term usage of copper fungicides on sustainable soil quality have been described for a long time, and according to the regulation of active substances, are objective of a survey on copper contents in agricultural soils in several EU member countries. 1613 single samples from the soil horizon 0–5 and 5–20&nbsp;cm were taken from 40 organically and 12 conventionally managed pomiculture sites trying to make reference to all aspects relevant for a representative assessment of copper loads. The result of that survey is intended to enable the selection of site-typical types of cultivation being the prerequisite of an assessment of effects to the earthworm coenosis in combination with a refined exposure analysis. On the basis of total contents, the copper load and their distribution on test and reference fields of German pomiculture cultivation sites is presented including the minimum, maximum and mean value as well as percentiles. Additionally, the heavy metal content in general was determined and differences in copper contents between tree row and driving lines were identified. Comparing managing history and current management, it is obvious that load peaks result from copper applications between 1960 to 1995, when between 10 to 13&nbsp;kg copper per ha and year were applied to control plant diseases. The evaluation of bio available copper, resulting from aged total copper contents, is not yet completely finished. By means of data, generated in preliminary samplings concerning load situation, site description and duration of management, 2–3 pomiculture sites are suggested being appropriate to assess the recent situation of soil quality in terms of responses on a population level. &nbsp; &nbsp

Neural robot detection in robocup

Abstract. Improving the game play in RoboCup middle size league requires a fast and robust visual robot detection system. The presented multilevel approach documents, that the combination of a simple color based attention control and a subsequent neural object classification can be applied successfully in real world scenarios. The presented results indicate a very good overall performance of this approach.

Visual robot detection in robocup using neural networks

Abstract. Robot recognition is a very important point for further improvements in game-play in RoboCup middle size league. In this paper we present a neural recognition method we developed to find robots using different visual information. Two algorithms are introduced to detect possible robot areas in an image and a subsequent recognition method with two combined multi-layer perceptrons is used to classify this areas regarding different features. The presented results indicate a very good overall performance of this approach.