Sensitivity analysis of optimal operation of irrigation supply systems with water quality considerations

A model for optimal operation of water supply/irrigation systems of various water quality sources, with treatment plants, multiple water quality conservative factors, and dilution junctions is presented. The objective function includes water cost at the sources, water conveyance costs which account for the hydraulics of the network indirectly, water treatment cost, and yield reduction costs of irrigated crops due to irrigation with poor quality water. The model can be used for systems with supply by canals as well as pipes, which serve both drinking water demands of urban/rural consumers and field irrigation requirements. The general nonlinear optimization problem has been simplified by decomposing it to a problem with linear constraints and nonlinear objective function. This problem is solved using the projected gradient method. The method is demonstrated for a regional water supply system in southern Israel that contains 39 pipes, 37 nodes, 11 sources, 10 agricultural consumers, and 4 domestic consumers. The optimal operation solution is described by discharge and salinity values for all pipes of the network. Sensitivity of the optimal solution to changes in the parameters is examined. The solution was found to be sensitive to the upper limit on drinking water quality, with total cost being reduced by 5% as the upper limit increases from 260 to 600 mg Cl l^–1. The effect of income from unit crop yield is more pronounced. An increase of income by a factor of 20 results in an increase of the total cost by a factor of 3, thus encouraging more use of fresh water as long as the marginal cost of water supply is smaller than the marginal decrease in yield loss. The effect of conveyance cost becomes more pronounced as its cost increases. An increase by a factor of 100 results in an increase of the total cost by about 14%. The network studied has a long pipe that connects two distinct parts of the network and permits the supply of fresh water from one part to the other. Increasing the maximum permitted discharge in this pipe from 0 to 200 m³ h^–1 reduces the total cost by 11%. Increasing the maximum discharge at one of the sources from 90 to 300 m³ h^–1 reduces the total cost by about 8%.     

Epidemiological investigations of an outbreak of intestinal atresia in two Israeli dairy herds

An epidemiological investigation of an outbreak of intestinal atresia in Israeli Holstein-Friesian newborn calves showed a linkage with rectal palpation for early pregnancy diagnosis, performed less than 42 days after insemination. The odds of an exposed calf, i.e., one born to a dam that was diagnosed by early palpation as having intestinal atresia were 119.7 times higher than one born in normal control herds (95% CI; 7.4-1946.3). A total of 682 calves-at-risk was recorded from mid-1998 to mid-2000 and a total of 47 calves (6.9%) were born with intestinal atresia during this period. Two forms of intestinal atresia were recognized at post-mortem: atresia coli and atresia ilei.     

Phenotypic and genotypic analysis of a commercial cultivar and wild populations of Anemone coronaria

Seven wild populations of Anemonecoronaria were assessed for 11 phenotypic traits, most of them having economic value for the flower industry. The wild populations were sampled to represent the diversity in habitats, climates, rock and soil types, terrains, and elevations in Israel. AFLP analysis was carried out on 12 individuals from each of six out of the seven wild populations and for six individuals from the commercial cultivar ‘Mona-Lisa’. It was found that the Dorot population, which is located in the area bordering the semi-arid zone at the very end of the species distribution, exhibits extreme and different phenotypes with relatively low variability compared withthe other wild populations. The other six wild populations, that grow in more favorable geographic and climatic conditions exhibit phenotypes with larger plants, larger numbers of flowers and less dissected leaves. These populations were less uniform than that of Dorot. Genetic characterization by AFLP markers revealed a total of 165 bands. The wild populations exhibit wide variation within-population, with about 80% polymorphic bands and average gene diversity between pairs of about 30%. The Dorot population has the lowest genetic variation and the Megido population the highest. Thus, the phenotypic variation reflects the genetic variation. The cultivar ‘Mona-Lisa’, as expected, has much lower genetic variation. The Dorot population and the ‘Mona-Lisa’ cultivar were found to have the largest genetic distances from the other wild populations, and the highest genetic variation between themselves. Phenetic analysis yielded a dendrogram describing the genetic relatedness of these populations. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Inheritance of agriculturally important traits in mango

Summary High heterozygosity on the one hand, and the inability to carry out successful hand pollinations on the other hand, have limited the amount of systematic work which has been done in mango breeding. In studying the inheritance of important horticultural traits we must first analyse the distribution of different traits in seedlings derived from open pollination. We studied correlations between these traits and assessed the contribution of the three female parents to that distribution.Although in general the trait distribution pattern is similar among the three progenies, some differences were noted. We also detected some correlations among various traits which might be useful for future breeding. It was concluded from both a chi-square test and an intraclass correlation coefficient that there is a specific female parent effect on both harvest season and fruit color; a smaller effect was found on fruit taste and size, and no effect of the female parent tree was detected on the distribution of both the juvenile period and fertility.     

Cultivar identification and genetic map of mango (Mangifera indica)

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) information was used for identification of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars, for studying the genetic relationship among 16 mango cultivars and seven mango rootstocks and for the construction of a genetic linkage map. Six AFLP primer combinations produced 204 clear bands and on the average 34 bands for each combination. The average Band-Sharing between cultivars and rootstocks was 83% and 80%, respectively. The average Band-Sharing for mango is 81%. The probability of obtaining a similar pattern for two different mango cultivars and rootstocks is 6 × 10⁻³and 2 × 10⁻³, respectively. A preliminary genetic linkage map of the mango genome was constructed, based on the progeny of a cross between ‘Keitt’ and ‘Tommy-Atkins’. This linkage map consists of 13 linkage groups and covers 161.5 cm defined by 34 AFLP markers. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Laboratory studies on pteridophyte breakdown by a soil mite

Twenty six species of pteridophytes (ferns and fern allies) were offered to the soil mite Rhizoglyphus robini Claparède (Acari: Astigmata: Acaridae) in Petri dishes. All plants provided nutrients and promoted growth of mite populations. Leaves of sixteen (61.5%) species were totally consumed or skeletonized while green, another seven only upon browning. The remaining three were left intact even after 3 months, although sori and their leachates provided food for the mites. Paper impregnated with pteridophyte leachates was consumed and encouraged mite reproduction. These findings neither support nor oppose the view that pteridophytes are under-utilized by arthropods but the adaptability of the specific experimental organism might have affected the results. Invertebrates feeding on dead, decomposing pteridophytes possibly reduce the latters' allelopathy to other plants. The ability of Rhizoglyphus to subsist on plant leachates, as well as bacteria or fungi developing thereon, could explain the mode of survival of this and other soil arthropods in deep, mineral soil strata.     

The effect of farming practices on reducing excess nitrogen fertilizer use

A nitrogen balance model is used to investigate the adoption of a crop rotation and the limitation on the application of nitrogen fertilizer to reduce excess nitrogen. For a farmer initially planting corn continuously, the adoption of a soybeans-corn rotation will have a smaller compliance cost but it will not eliminate the excess application of nitrogen fertilizer under a relatively low nitrogen fertilizer to corn price ratio. An explicit limitation on nitrogen fertilizer use would be needed to achieve this objective. Limiting nitrogen fertilizer use on cropland susceptible to a high potential for leaching will have a smaller compliance cost than on cropland with a moderate potential for leaching.     

Efficient near-infrared polymer nanocrystal light-emitting diodes

Conjugated polymers and indium arsenide-based nanocrystals were used to create near-infrared plastic light-emitting diodes. Emission was tunable from 1 to 1.3 micrometers--a range that effectively covers the short-wavelength telecommunications band--by means of the quantum confinement effects in the nanocrystals. The external efficiency value (photons out divided by electrons in) is approximately 0.5% (that is, >1% internal) and is mainly limited by device architecture. The near-infrared emission did not overlap the charge-induced absorption bands of the polymer.     

Coronavirus infection induces H-2 antigen expression on oligodendrocytes and astrocytes

Infection of the central nervous system by mouse hepatitis virus strain A59, a murine neurotropic coronavirus, induces class I major histocompatibility complex antigens on mouse oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, cells that do not normally express these antigens on their surfaces. This induction, which occurs through soluble factors elaborated by infected glial cells, potentially allows immunocytes to interact with the glial cells and may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of virus-induced, immune-mediated demyelination in the central nervous system.