A method for growing potatoes by combining water culture and pot culture techniques

A combined water culture and pot culture technique was developed for the study of the K nutrition of potatoes. The water culture technique permitted control of the K nutrient supply while the pot culture technique provided support for plant growth and for tuber development in a low K medium. Both plant growth and tuber quality reflected the K supply of the culture solution.     

Pre-weaning morbidity and mortality of llamas and alpacas

Objectives   To describe the morbidity and mortality patterns and identify factors associated with morbidity in pre-weaning llamas and alpacas.
Design   Cross-sectional observational study of 287 crias born on four farms in Ohio, USA
Procedure   Historical data representing all crias born over a 6-year period were obtained from two llama farms and two alpaca farms in Ohio. Multivariable generalised linear mixed effects regression models were used to identify factors associated with morbidity outcomes.
Results   In total, 105 (37%) of the llamas and alpacas had some reported morbidity during the pre-weaning period, and mortality rate was 2.1%. In addition, 51 (18%) of llamas and alpacas experienced morbidity because of infectious disease, and 47 (16%) experienced morbidity during the neonatal period. The three most commonly reported morbidity events were undifferentiated diarrhoea (23%), umbilical hernia (16%) and unspecified infectious disease (15%). Difficult birth was an important risk factor for pre-weaning morbidity in this population.
Conclusions   Camelid veterinarians and their clients can expect that pre-weaning health events are common among crias, although mortality is low. Crias experiencing difficult births may require additional monitoring for health events during the pre-weaning period.     

Electronic monitoring in fisheries: Lessons from global experiences and future opportunities

Since the beginning of the 21st century, electronic monitoring (EM) has emerged as a cost‐efficient supplement to existing catch monitoring programmes in fisheries. An EM system consists of various activity sensors and cameras positioned on vessels to remotely record fishing activity and catches. The first objective of this review was to describe the state of play of EM in fisheries worldwide and to present the insights gained on this technology based on 100 EM trials and 12 fully implemented programmes. Despite its advantages, and its global use for monitoring, progresses in implementation in some important fishing regions are slow. Within this context, the second objective was to discuss more specifically the European experiences gained through 16 trials. Findings show that the three major benefits of EM were as follows: (a) cost‐efficiency, (b) the potential to provide more representative coverage of the fleet than any observer programme and (c) the enhanced registration of fishing activity and location. Electronic monitoring can incentivize better compliance and discard reduction, but the fishing managers and industry are often reluctant to its uptake. Improved understanding of the fisher's concerns, for example intrusion of privacy, liability and costs, and better exploration of EM benefits, for example increased traceability, sustainability claims and market access, may enhance implementation on a larger scale. In conclusion, EM as a monitoring tool embodies various solid strengths that are not diminished by its weaknesses. Electronic monitoring has the opportunity to be a powerful tool in the future monitoring of fisheries, particularly when integrated within existing monitoring programmes.     

Pleistocene extinction of genyornis newtoni: human impact on australian megafauna

More than 85 percent of Australian terrestrial genera with a body mass exceeding 44 kilograms became extinct in the Late Pleistocene. Although most were marsupials, the list includes the large, flightless mihirung Genyornis newtoni. More than 700 dates onGenyornis eggshells from three different climate regions document the continuous presence of Genyornis from more than 100,000 years ago until their sudden disappearance 50,000 years ago, about the same time that humans arrived in Australia. Simultaneous extinction of Genyornis at all sites during an interval of modest climate change implies that human impact, not climate, was responsible.     

Regional Differences in the Relation Between Monthly Precipitation and Bulk Concentration in France (Renecofor)

Bulk precipitation was sampled weekly from 1993 to 1994 at 27 sites, covering the whole country. In this paper the relations between decreasing concentrations of 4-weekly mean weighted samples with increasing 4-weekly precipitation are studied using two types of equations: (i) y = a+b/x; (ii) y+1= ax^b, where y = concentration of an ion and x = 4-weekly precipitation quantity. Relationships were studied for the major ions. H⁺ did not show any relationship with the rainfall amount. From the 216 regressions (27 sites × 8 ions) for all the other ions, 55.6% showed a good fit (r equal or above 0.6) and 16.2% a very good fit (r equal or above 0.85). Good fits were found for 85% of the regressions for N-NO₃ ^-, 81% for S-SO₄ ^2-, 63% for Ca²⁺, 59% for K⁺, 55% for N-NH₄ ⁺, 37% for Mg²⁺, 33% for Cl^- and 29% for Na⁺. The comparison between sites for the same ions showed: (i) the ranking of the sites after the regressions from lower to higher concentration levels does not necessarily correspond to the ranking of the sites bi-annual mean weighted concentrations; (ii) sites showed similar behaviour for certain ions for which an explanation could be found, based on local or regional emission characteristics or air mass influences, and for others this was not possible; (iii) for certain ions and pairs of sites, comparable annual precipitation led to comparable behaviour, for others precipitation was not an explanatory factor at all, (iv) local and regional influences seem to have a much greater impact on decreasing concentrations than the gradient from the Atlantic coast to the eastern French border.     

Schwermetallbelastung von Aporrectodea caliginosa (Oligochaeta,Lumbricidae) im Raum Kiel

Heavy metal content in Aporrectodea caliginosa (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) in the city of Kiel (Germany, Schleswig-Holstein) In November 1995 the content of lead, cadmium, copper and zinc in earthworms of the Aporrectodea caliginosa species was investigated at 28 sites of the Kiel area, as well as at one reference site (Belauer See, ca. 20 kilometres south of Kiel), and compared with the heavy metal content in the soil taken from all those sites. As for the lead and copper content, a positive correlation could be established between the earthworms and the soil. However, the lead content in the earthworms did not depend only on its amount in the soil, but also on soil pH and calcium content. Their copper content decreased exponentially as weight increased. The content of lead, cadmium and copper in A. caliginosa suggested an influence of urban soil pollution on the heavy metal content in earthworms. According to the grouping of heavy metal content in the earthworms, which was done in the course of the research work, the city of Kiel ranges among a minor to a medium degree of pollution caused by the investigated heavy metals.     

Enantioselective catalysis for agrochemicals: synthetic routes to (S)-metolachlor, (R)-metalaxyl and (αS,3R)-clozylacon

The application of enantioselective catalytic methods for the technical preparation of chiral agrochemicals is illustrated for three active ingredients of the acylanilide type. The key step for the technical synthesis of the herbicide (S)-metolachlor is the enantioselective hydrogenation of an imine intermediate using a novel iridium ferrocenyldiphosphine catalyst with an unprecedented high activity and 80% ee. (R)-metalaxyl and (αS,3R)-clozylacon were synthesized via the enantioselective hydrogenation of corre-sponding enamide precursors with Rh and Ru/binap catalysts with >95% and 99% enantiomeric purity, respectively. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry     

Prof. Dr. agr. Rudolf Schick

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