The effect of Trichoderma harzianum in combination with organicamendment on soil suppressiveness to Rhizoctonia solani

The effect of sheep manure amendment and the biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum Rifai on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) damping off and on fungal activity including Rhizoctonia solani in the soil was investigated over a 24-month period. A combination of T. harzianum and sheep manure at all concentrations tested reduced damping off caused by R. solani after manure incubation in the soil for 0–24 months compared to the control at zero time. Disease reduction was 50% after 24 months with the highest concentration of organic amendment (10%). Disease reduction increased with increasing concentration of organic amendment and with the duration of the incubation time. A combination of T. harzianum and sheep manure reduced both the total fungal population and the R. solani population after 12 and 24 months. However, the population of T. harzianum increased with increasing concentration of sheep manure and duration of incubation. The incubation time had a greater effect on the T. harzianum population than did the concentration of the sheep manure. Sheep manure alone was less effective in reducing bean damping off and improving bean growth than a combination of both manure and T. harzianum. In conclusion, the soil suppressiveness to R. solani damping off was enhanced when T. harzianum isolate Jn14 was added to organically amended soil, and this degree of enhancement increased over time

The Potential of Native Palestinian Nomuraea rileyi Isolates in the Biocontrol of Corn Earworm Helicoverpa (Heliothis) armigera

ABSTRACT Four native isolates of the entomopathogenic fungus Nomuraea rileyi were isolated from soil samples collected from 210 different irrigated and non-irrigated tomato-growing fields in the West Bank-Palestine. The four isolates were recovered from soil samples collected from the Jenin area during August 2006 (Nr 3, Nr 5, Nr 17 and Nr 18), and were then deposited at the US Agriculture Research Service collection of Entomopathogenic Fungi (ARSEF 7794, ARSEF7793, ARSEF7792 and ARSEF 7791). The isolation was carried out by using dilute plate technique on modified selective medium. The medium used in the study was based on the standard Saboraud's maltose agar yeast extract, and modified by adding Tween ® 80 and the fungicide dodine . The results showed that the LT 50 for these isolates at the inoculum concentration of 10 8 spore ml -1 were in the range of 7.9 to 9.4 days. The LC 50 was in the range of 10 5 and 10 6 spore ml -1 . The virulence of the most promising isolate (ARSEF 7794) compared to the insecticide Thyonex ® was evaluated on H. armigera under tomato open field conditions; the results showed that the fungus and the insecticide reduced tomato infestation by 46%, and 88% respectively, compared to the control

Geological and geophysical investigation of Kamil crater, Egypt

We detail the Kamil crater (Egypt) structure and refine the impact scenario, based on the geological and geophysical data collected during our first expedition in February 2010. Kamil Crater is a model for terrestrial small-scale hypervelocity impact craters. It is an exceptionally well-preserved, simple crater with a diameter of 45 m, depth of 10 m, and rayed pattern of bright ejecta. It occurs in a simple geological context: flat, rocky desert surface, and target rocks comprising subhorizontally layered sandstones. The high depth-to-diameter ratio of the transient crater, its concave, yet asymmetric, bottom, and the fact that Kamil Crater is not part of a crater field confirm that it formed by the impact of a single iron mass (or a tight cluster of fragments) that fragmented upon hypervelocity impact with the ground. The circular crater shape and asymmetries in ejecta and shrapnel distributions coherently indicate a direction of incidence from the NW and an impact angle of approximately 30 to 45 . Newly identified asymmetries, including the off-center bottom of the transient crater floor downrange, maximum overturning of target rocks along the impact direction, and lower crater rim elevation downrange, may be diagnostic of oblique impacts in well-preserved craters. Geomagnetic data reveal no buried individual impactor masses >100 kg and suggest that the total mass of the buried shrapnel >100 g is approximately 1050–1700 kg. Based on this mass value plus that of shrapnel >10 g identified earlier on the surface during systematic search, the new estimate of the minimum projectile mass is approximately 5 t.Published1842–18683.8. Geofisica per l'ambienteJCR Journalrestricte

Enhanced Soil Solarization against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici in the Uplands

Soil solarization tests against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, the causal agent of tomato Fusarium wilt, were conducted for seven weeks through July and August 2008 and 2009 in the climatic conditions of Al-Aroub Agricultural Experimental Station, located in the southern mountains of the West Bank, Palestine. Double polyethylene (DPE) sheets, regular polyethylene (PE) sheets, and virtually impermeable films (VIF) were compared to examine their effects on soil temperature, disease severity, and plant growth. Results showed that in comparison to the control, PE, DPE, and VIF treatments increased the mean maximum soil temperatures by 10.2, 14.1, and 8.8°C, respectively, in 2008 and by 10.2, 12.6, and 8.3°C respectively, in 2009. The longest length of time recorded for temperature above 45°C under DPE sheets were 220 hours in 2008 and 218 hours in 2009. The treatments reduced the pathogen population by 86% and the disease by 43% under the DPE treatment in 2009 and to a lesser extent by the other treatments. Increases of up to 94% in fresh plant weight and up to 60% in plant dry weight were evident under the same treatment. The treatments also increased soil organic matter, both nitrogen forms, and major cations

Fully Digital Jerk-Based Chaotic Oscillators for High Throughput Pseudo Random Number Generators up to 8.77

Abstract This paper introduces fully digital implementations of four different systems in the 3rd order jerk-equation based chaotic family using the Euler approximation. The digitization approach enables controllable chaotic systems that reliably provide sinusoidal or chaotic output based on a selection input. New systems are introduced, derived using logical and arithmetic operations between two system implementations of different bus widths, with up to 100x higher maximum Lyapunov exponent than the original jerkequation based chaotic systems. The resulting chaotic output is shown to pass the NIST sp. 800-22 statistical test suite for pseudorandom number generators without post-processing by only eliminating the statistically defective bits. The systems are designed in Verilog HDL and experimentally verified on a Xilinx Virtex 4 FPGA for a maximum throughput of 15.59 Gbits/s for the native chaotic output and 8.77 Gbits/s for the resulting pseudo-random number generators

Free Flap Transfer with Arteriovenous Loop Establishment for Upper Limb Salvage in a Crush Injury

Summary:. Constructing arteriovenous (AV) loops saves a crushed limb when healthy recipient vessels are unavailable at the site of injury by supporting a transferred free flap. Literature about using AV loops in the upper limb defect is scarce. We present a case with a devastating upper limb crush injury that was successfully managed with fibula flap transfer preceded by AV loop construction. A 38-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with severe crushing trauma to her right forearm and hand. There was significant skin loss with injuries to blood vessels and tendons. She underwent multiple staged operations beginning with repair of the ulnar artery, debridement of necrotic tissue, and placement of 2 K-wires to stabilize the bones. Thereafter, a long saphenous AV loop was constructed between the brachial artery and the basilic vein. Finally, transfer of the fibula flap to the forearm. We used the staged procedure to provide adequate time for the AV loop maturation and adaptation. At around the patient’s 7-month follow-up visit, her forearm and hand were stable, no complications related to the AV loop or the transferred fibula flap were noted. Utilizing AV loops to support transferred free flaps upper limb defects showed a promising successful outcome

Geological and geophysical investigation of Kamil Crater, Egypt

We detail the Kamil crater (Egypt) structure and refine the impact scenario, based on the geological and geophysical data collected during our first expedition in February 2010. Kamil Crater is a model for terrestrial small-scale hypervelocity impact craters. It is an exceptionally well-preserved, simple crater with a diameter of 45 m, depth of 10 m, and rayed pattern of bright ejecta. It occurs in a simple geological context: flat, rocky desert surface, and target rocks comprising subhorizontally layered sandstones. The high depth-to-diameter ratio of the transient crater, its concave, yet asymmetric, bottom, and the fact that Kamil Crater is not part of a crater field confirm that it formed by the impact of a single iron mass (or a tight cluster of fragments) that fragmented upon hypervelocity impact with the ground. The circular crater shape and asymmetries in ejecta and shrapnel distributions coherently indicate a direction of incidence from the NW and an impact angle of approximately 30 to 45 degrees. Newly identified asymmetries, including the off-center bottom of the transient crater floor downrange, maximum overturning of target rocks along the impact direction, and lower crater rim elevation downrange, may be diagnostic of oblique impacts in well-preserved craters. Geomagnetic data reveal no buried individual impactor masses > 100 kg and suggest that the total mass of the buried shrapnel > 100 g is approximately 1050-1700 kg. Based on this mass value plus that of shrapnel > 10 g identified earlier on the surface during systematic search, the new estimate of the minimum projectile mass is approximately 5 t