The Constitutional Convention and Court Merger in New York State

In November 2017, voters in New York, for the first time in twenty years, will be asked to decide whether there “[s]hall be a convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?” If it is decided by the electorate to call a convention, “delegates will be elected in November 2018, and the convention will convene in April 2019.” One of the significant goals of a convention would be the achievement of court merger in the Empire State. The purpose of this perspective is to discuss the pros and cons of a constitutional convention with an emphasis on court merger

Onion storage in sterilized new plastic crates compared to storage in old wooden boxes.

The United States Food and Drug Administration?s (FDA) proposed water rules to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FDA has proposed that plastic totes be substituted for wooden bins for the storage on onion bulbs. A preliminary study was conducted to examine the role of wooden storage containers on onion bulb contamination with E. coli. Onions from a furrow-irrigated field using water up to 866 MPN E. coli /100 ml were harvested into 12 old wooden boxes and 12 sterilized new plastic crates. Onions from a drip-irrigated field using water with 0 MPN E. coli /100 ml were harvested into 12 old wooden boxes and 12 sterilized new plastic crates. Onions packed out tended to not have E. coli on the bulb exteriors. The small amount of contamination detected did not appear to be related to the storage containers or irrigation water source

A Three-Flavor AdS/QCD Model with a Back-Reacted Geometry

A fully back-reaction geometry model of AdS/QCD including the strange quark is described. We find that with the inclusion of the strange quark the impact on the metric is very small and the final predictions are changed only negligibly.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures; references revised, minor change for caption of fig

As pastagens e seu manejo no Centro-Sul do Brasil

Although the cattle industry of south-central Brazil is of great importance to the economy of the country and the nutrition of the people, present pasture practices have only short term viability. The continuing decrease in productivity of pasture lands has led to consideration of legumes and fertilization to satisfy the primary need for nitrogen. Both alternatives are examined and in conclusion the establishment of legumes is economically viable depending on site conditions and distance from market. Adequate provisions for seasonal shortages, and the establishment of rotational grazing systems are also essential.A indústria pecuária do centro-sul brasileiro constitui importante contribuição para a economia nacional e para a alimentação das populações. Contudo, percebe-se que os atuais métodos de pastoreio não podem continuar por muito tempo. A produtividade das pastagens vem diminuindo constantemente; e isso levou a pensar no uso das leguminosas e na fertilização das terras, para suprir a necessidade primária de nitrogênio. Ambas as alternativas foram examinadas, concluindo-se que o estabelecimento de leguminosas é economicamente viável, dependendo das condições da localização e distância do mercado; mas é necessário também fazer provisões para os períodos de escassez, bem como implantar o sistema da rotatividade dos pastos

Survival of Escherichia coli on onion during field curing and packout.

The Food and Drug administration has expressed concern that Onions (Allium cepa) irrigated with water contaminated with high rates of Escherichia coli could harbor E. coli on their surface or interior. On the other hand, since onions contain antimicrobial compounds and field conditions may not be conducive to E. coli survival, the E. coli population on the surface of onions might become negligible through the course of field curing. Further, the relationship between the E. coli in the irrigation water to the E. coli on onion bulbs after field curing, harvest, and packout has not been studied. To determine if E. coli should be of concern in onion production, we sought to measure the die-off of E. coli on onions between the last irrigation and harvest and the presence of E. coli on onions after packout. Well water was tested and had no E. coli; ditch water intentionally run across a pasture prior to use had 218 to > 2400 MPN of E. coli/100ml. Onions were sampled from those furrow irrigated (ditch water) and those drip irrigated (well water) starting at lifting 3 September 2013 for four consecutive weeks. At 0 and 28 days after lifting, both interior and exterior of the onions were tested for E. coli. At 7, 14, and 21 days after lifting, only the exterior of the onions was tested. None of the onions contained E. coli internally at 0 or 28 days after lifting. At lifting E. coli was present on the exterior of both the drip and furrow irrigated onions and seemed to be largely unrelated to the irrigation water. The exterior E. coli contamination decreased rapidly after lifting. After harvest and packout on 14 October 2013, no E. coli was detected on the onion bulb exteriors from either irrigation treatment. E. coli introduced into the onion field through furrow irrigation was not present on or in the packed out onion bulbs

AdS/QCD Phenomenological Models from a Back-Reacted Geometry

We construct a fully back-reacted holographic dual of a four-dimensional field theory which exhibits chiral symmetry breaking. Two possible models are considered by studying the effects of a five-dimensional field, dual to the $q\bar{q}$ operator. One model has smooth geometry at all radii and the other dynamically generates a cutoff at finite radius. Both of these models satisfy Einstein's field equations. The second model has only three free parameters, as in QCD, and we show that this gives phenomenologically consistent results. We also discuss the possibility that in order to obtain linear confinement from a back-reacted model it may be necessary to consider the condensate of a dimension two operator.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Replaced with minor correction

Movement of Escherichia coli in soil as applied in irrigation water.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed that If irrigation water exceeds 235 colony-forming units (CFU) of E. coli /100 ml in any one sample or 126 CFU/100 ml in the average of any five consecutive samples, growers would have to cease using that water in any way that directly contacts the surface of fresh produce (FDA 2013). The FDA has proposed that these E. coli levels are an indication of high risk of bacterial contamination of fresh onion (Allium cepa L.) bulbs regardless of the irrigation system. If onion irrigation exceeds 235 CFU, it is not known whether the contaminated water applied by furrow or drip irrigation actually reaches the onion bulb. Soil could filter E. coli and other bacteria before irrigation water reaches onion bulbs. ?Vaquero? onions were grown on Owyhee silt loam. In our preliminary studies reported here, well water free of E. coli was applied to onions through drip irrigation or through furrow irrigation. A second water source was intentionally enriched with E. coli by being run across a pasture and recaptured prior to use. Furrow and drip irrigation were used to apply this water containing 218 to >2400 MPN/100ml for 11+ hours per irrigation. E. coli was monitored in the soil water at the end of irrigation cycles through direct sampling of the soil. Soil water was also sampled using sterile soil solution capsules (SSSC) to sample E. coli in the soil water that moved into place, to differentiate the movement of soil water from the soil water already in place. Soil water measurements were made adjacent to the water source, half way to the bulbs, and immediately adjacent to the onion bulbs. For furrow irrigation with ditch water the E. coli counts in the soil next to the onion bulbs was only 0% and 21% of the counts in the irrigation water following the first and second irrigations, respectively. During subsequent furrow irrigations, the E. coli counts in the soil water next to the onion bulbs exceeded the counts in the irrigation water. For drip irrigation with ditch water, the E. coli counts in the soil solution next to the onion bulbs remained very low. The soil water sampled by the SSSC adjacent to the onion bulbs drip-irrigated with ditch water also had very low E. coli counts

Review of two decades of progress in the development of successful drip irrigation for onions.

The irrigation needs of long day onion (Allium cepa) have been extensively studied at Ontario, Oregon, over the past 22 years. Drip irrigation has compared favorably with furrow and sprinkler irrigation systems. Onions were found to have very narrow soil moisture requirements. Drier soil than optima led to yield loss and wetter soil promoted bulb decomposition. Short term water stress at the three- to six-leaf stages of plant growth promoted multiple centers in long day onion varieties. Irrigation was successfully scheduled using soil water tension or evapotranspiration. Nitrogen fertilization and plant populations have been optimized. Drip system design must carefully consider the hydraulic conductivity of the soil in the placement of tape and onion rows since the soil moisture must wick over from the drip tape to the onion plant. The drip irrigation system design uniformity, operation, and maintenance are essential given onion?s low tolerance to water stress

Gene expression differs in susceptible and resistant amphibians exposed to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Chytridiomycosis, the disease caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has devastated global amphibian biodiversity. Nevertheless, some hosts avoid disease after Bd exposure even as others experience near-complete extirpation. It remains unclear whether the amphibian adaptive immune system plays a role in Bd defence. Here, we describe gene expression in two host species-one susceptible to chytridiomycosis and one resistant-following exposure to two Bd isolates that differ in virulence. Susceptible wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) had high infection loads and mortality when exposed to the more virulent Bd isolate but lower infection loads and no fatal disease when exposed to the less virulent isolate. Resistant American bullfrogs (R. catesbeiana) had high survival across treatments and rapidly cleared Bd infection or avoided infection entirely. We found widespread upregulation of adaptive immune genes and downregulation of important metabolic and cellular maintenance components in wood frogs after Bd exposure, whereas American bullfrogs showed little gene expression change and no evidence of an adaptive immune response. Wood frog responses suggest that adaptive immune defences may be ineffective against virulent Bd isolates that can cause rapid physiological dysfunction. By contrast, American bullfrogs exhibited robust resistance to Bd that is likely attributable, at least in part, to their continued upkeep of metabolic and skin integrity pathways as well as greater antimicrobial peptide expression compared to wood frogs, regardless of exposure. Greater understanding of these defences will ultimately help conservationists manage chytridiomycosis