Spatial variations of rainwash and runoff within apparently homogeneous areas

The magnitude and causes of rainwash and runoff variability within small and supposedly “homogeneous” areas were investigated. Artificial rainfall (at 50 mm hr⁻¹ for 30 minutes) was applied to twenty identical 0.0929 m² (1 ft²) mini-plots arranged within a wetted annular 16.5 m² in area. Despite the uniformity of techniques used for data collection, there was considerable variability in the rainwash and runoff data (coefficient of variation= 21 to 35% and 20 to 75% respectively) at the three locations in southern Ontario. In comparison with laboratory data, field rainwash variability was similar but field runoff variability was substantially higher. Soil strength parameters, surface roughness and microtopography, as well as aggregation indices, are considered to be the potential causes of the observed variabilities. Operator variance was found to be extremely significant in our study. It is suggested, therefore, that comparison of erosion data collected by different researchers must be conducted with great caution.     

Field release of a non-toxigenic Aspergillus flavus L strain in central Benin

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Non-toxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus (Link) can be used as biological control agents to reduce the contamination of grains such as maize with...     

Measured Soil Water Concentrations of Cadmium and Zinc in Plant Pots and Estimated Leaching Outflows from Contaminated Soils

Soil water concentrations of cadmium and zinc were measured in plant pots with 15 contaminated soils which differed in origin, texture, pH (5.1 – 7.8) and concentrations of cadmium (0.2 – 17 mg Cd kg-¹) and zinc (36 – 1300 mg Zn kg-¹). The soil waters contained total concentrations of 0.5 to 17 µg Cd L-¹ and 9 to 3600 µg Zn L-¹, which were dominated by free metal ions as measured by an ion exchange-resin method. Annual leaching outflows were estimated from soil water concentrations to be 0.5 – 17 g Cd ha-¹ y-¹ and 9 – 3600 g Zn ha-¹ y-¹ per 100 mm of net percolation, corresponding to 0.1% per year of the total soil content of cadmium and zinc. The measured soil water concentrations of cadmium and zinc did not correlate linearly with the corresponding soil concentrations but correlated fairly well with concentrations measured in Ca(NO₃)₂ extracts of the soils and with soil water concentrations estimated from soil concentrations and pH. Such concentration estimates may be useful for estimating amounts of cadmium and zinc being leached from soils.     

Malignant lymphoma with cardiac and bone involvement in a dog

Malignant lymphoma involving bone and heart was diagnosed in a 4-year-old Whippet, using radiography, histologic examination, nuclear scintigraphy of the skeleton and heart, and cardiac ultrasonography.     

Partial resistance to neck blast influenced by stage of panicle development and rice genotype

Summary Neck nodes of eight rice genotypes were inoculated with a virulent isolate of the blast pathogen at four slightly different, increasingly older stages of panicle development shortly after flowering. Resistance to infection as well as resistance to growth of the pathogen after infection was assessed. Significant differences between genotypes were found for both components of resistance. Resistance to growth of the pathogen sharply increased with aging of the neck node as was indicated by a large reduction of the length of the lesions on the culm, but resistance to infection did not change much. The lesion length was closely related to yield loss. A small delay in time of infection can lead to a large decrease in yield reduction. Meaningful comparison of partial resistance to neck blast between genotypes therefore requires infection at an identical stage of panicle development. In the field, where panicles are in different stages of development, selection of genotypes that do show the symptoms of neck blast together with relatively little yield loss in infected panicles is recommended.     

The incidence of Pythium spp. and Aphanomyces cochlioides associated with the sugar-beet growing soils of Britain

In a survey of fungi causing seedling diseases of sugar beet using a soil bioassay, Aphanomyces cochlioides and Pythium spp. were found to occur in 39% and 31%, respectively, of 341 sugar-beet fields selected in a stratified random sample in England, The frequency of A. cochlioides-infested soils varied widely in the different sugar-beet growing areas of the country. Soil pH was the single factor most strongly associated with the distribution of the pathogen, but regression models applied to combinations of factors indicated that soil texture and the interval between sugar-beet crops were also relevant to its frequency. It was detected less often in soils of high pH (≥ 75). heavy texture and where the interval between sugar-beet crops exceeded 5 years. No significant associations were found between the proportion of soils with Pythium spp. and soil or cropping factors.