Fertilizer micro-dosing increases crop yield in the Sahelian low-input cropping system: A success with a shadow

Over the years, a scarcity of information on nutrient gains or losses has led to overemphasis being placed on crop yields and economic income as the direct benefits from fertilizer micro-dosing technology. There is increasing concern about the sustainability of this technology in smallholder Sahelian cropping systems. This study was designed in the 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons to establish nutrient balances under fertilizer micro-dosing technology and their implications on soil nutrient stocks. Two fertilizer micro-dosing treatments [2 g hill^?1 of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 6 g hill^?1 of compound fertilizer Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK) (15-15-15)] and three rates of manure (100 g hill^?1, 200 g hill^?1 and 300 g hill^?1) and the relevant control treatments were arranged in a factorial experiment organized in a randomized complete block design with three replications. On average, millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.) grain yield increased by 39 and 72% for the plots that received the fertilizer micro-dosing of 6 g NPK hill^?1 and 2 g DAP hill^?1, respectively, in comparison with the unfertilized control plots. The average partial nutrients balances for the two cropping seasons were ?37 kg N ha^?1yr^?1, ?1 kg P ha^?1yr^?1 and ?34 kg K ha^?1yr^?1 in plots that received the application of 2 g DAP hill^?1, and ?31 kg N ha^?1yr^?1, ?1 kg P ha^?1yr^?1 and ?27 kg K ha^?1yr^?1 for 6 g NPK hill^?1. The transfer of straw yields accounted for 66% N, 55% P and 89% K for removal. The average full nutrient balances for the two cropping seasons in fertilizer micro-dosing treatments were ?47.8 kg N ha^?1 yr^?1, ?6.8 kg P ha^?1 yr^?1 and ?21.3 kg K ha^?1 yr^?1 which represent 7.8, 24.1 and 9.4% of N, P and K stocks, respectively. The nutrient stock to balance ratio (NSB) for N decreased from 13 to 11 and from 15 to 12 for the plots that received the application of 2 g DAP hill^?1 and 6 g NPK hill^?1, respectively. The average NSB for P did not exceed 5 for the same plots. It was concluded that fertilizer micro-dosing increases the risk of soil nutrient depletion in the Sahelian low-input cropping system. These results have important implications for developing an agro-ecological approach to addressing sustainable food production in the Sahelian smallholder cropping system.     

Bosonic stimulation in the formation of a bose-einstein condensate

The formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute atomic gas has been studied in situ with a nondestructive, time-resolved imaging technique. Sodium atoms were evaporatively cooled close to the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation and then suddenly quenched to below the transition temperature. The subsequent equilibration and condensate formation showed a slow onset distinctly different from simple relaxation. This behavior provided evidence for the process of bosonic stimulation, or coherent matter-wave amplification, crucial to the concept of an atom laser.     

Host response to the chondracanthid copepod Chondracanthus goldsmidi,a gill parasite of the striped trumpeter,Latris lineata (Forster), in Tasmania

The chondracanthid copepod, Chondracanthus goldsmidi is an ectoparasite of gills, inner opercula and nasal cavities of cultured striped trumpeter, Latris lineata (Forster). Whilst often present in high numbers (up to 60 parasites per host), little is known about its effect on striped trumpeter. In this study C. goldsmidi was associated with extensive epithelial hyperplasia and necrosis. Pathological changes were most pronounced near the parasite’s attachment site, with papilloma‐like growths surrounding the entire parasite resulting in deformation of the filament. The number of mucous cells increased near the parasite attachment sites on both the opercula and gills. Mast cells were absent in healthy gills; in contrast numerous mast cells were identified in the papilloma‐like growths. Immunostaining identified piscidin‐positive mast cells in the papilloma‐like growths, presenting the first evidence of piscidin in the family Latridae.     

Low-Dose X-Ray Treatment of Fresh Channel Catfish Fillets Does Not Affect Color,Texture, or Oxidation

Consumer uncertainty of irradiated food products has slowed implementation of food irradiation, even though it has been proven as a safe and effective technology. For acceptance, irradiated products should not be distinguishable from alternatively processed products. The present research was designed to determine if X-ray irradiation treatment results in changes in selected quality parameters (color, texture, and oxidation) of fresh aquacultured channel catfish fillets. Fillets (Ictalurus punctatus) were treated to 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 kGy using an X-ray irradiator and stored at 3°C for 17 days. Periodically during storage, samples were removed and instrumentally measured for color, texture, and oxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances). Color, texture, and oxidation did not change (p > 0.05) over time or with irradiation dose. Results indicated that low-dose X-ray treated raw catfish fillets were not distinguishable from untreated controls.     

Mineral resources, economic growth, and world populatic

World population and world income can grow at any likely rate for the next 50 to 75 years, probably for longer, and mineral supplies will continue to keep pace with demand. Not, however, without environmental costs, without affecting Third World development, and, perhaps most important, without ignoring critical questions of power. In what might be termed the revisionist form of the limits to growth thesis, Aurelio Peccei and Alexander King, cofounders of the Club of Rome, seem to be saying that the forecasts of doom themselves are unimportant but they symbolize critical problems of the nature and uses of power in the modern world (30): . . . the Club of Rome is questioning the quality of growth and its distribution around the world. . . . We know that the present structure of the world is obsolete. . . . Both private and state capitalism are stale . . . we have to develop something else. Surely, continually increasing rates of mineral production are symptoms of this obsolete power structure, a result of the fact that, ultimately, population growth and monetary income growth lead to demands for natural resources that necessitate their being found and produced regardless of the implications. Since such higher rates of production are geologically and economically sustainable, we should choose among alternative paths of growth, and hence among alternative rates of mineral resource development, according to what we like or dislike about these implications. The key information will not be found in tables comparing reserves and consumption but in preferences and ethics.     

The infrared spectrum of Al2H6 in solid hydrogen

Although many volatile binary boron hydride compounds are known, binary aluminum hydride chemistry is limited to the polymeric (AlH3)(n) solid. The reaction of laser-ablated aluminum atoms and pure H2 during codeposition at 3.5 kelvin, followed by ultraviolet irradiation and annealing to 6.5 kelvin, allows dimerization of the intermediate AlH3 photolysis product to form Al2H6. The Al2H6 molecule is identified by seven new infrared absorptions that are accurately predicted by quantum chemical calculations for dibridged Al2H6, a molecule that is isostructural with diborane.     

The effects of iron fertilization on carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean

An unresolved issue in ocean and climate sciences is whether changes to the surface ocean input of the micronutrient iron can alter the flux of carbon to the deep ocean. During the Southern Ocean Iron Experiment, we measured an increase in the flux of particulate carbon from the surface mixed layer, as well as changes in particle cycling below the iron-fertilized patch. The flux of carbon was similar in magnitude to that of natural blooms in the Southern Ocean and thus small relative to global carbon budgets and proposed geoengineering plans to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep sea.     

Segregation of axial motor and sensory pathways via heterotypic trans-axonal signaling

Execution of motor behaviors relies on circuitries effectively integrating immediate sensory feedback to efferent pathways controlling muscle activity. It remains unclear how, during neuromuscular circuit assembly, sensory and motor projections become incorporated into tightly coordinated, yet functionally separate pathways. We report that, within axial nerves, establishment of discrete afferent and efferent pathways depends on coordinate signaling between coextending sensory and motor projections. These heterotypic axon-axon interactions require motor axonal EphA3/EphA4 receptor tyrosine kinases activated by cognate sensory axonal ephrin-A ligands. Genetic elimination of trans-axonal ephrin-A --> EphA signaling in mice triggers drastic motor-sensory miswiring, culminating in functional efferents within proximal afferent pathways. Effective assembly of a key circuit underlying motor behaviors thus critically depends on trans-axonal signaling interactions resolving motor and sensory projections into discrete pathways.