Soil composition and nutritional status of apple as affected by long-term application of gypsum

Gypsum does not affect the soil negative charges and maintains sulfate in the soil solution, making it one of the cheapest products to increase Ca activity in soil solution, especially in the deeper soil layers. Higher Ca levels in the soil solution can increase the uptake of this nutrient by apple trees, reducing the risk of physiological disorders caused by Ca deficiency. This study assessed the effect of long-term gypsum application on some soil properties and on the chemical composition of leaves and fruits of an apple cultivar susceptible to fruit disorders associated with low Ca. The experiment was conducted in São Joaquim, in the South of Brazil, from 2001 to 2009. Gypsum rates of 0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 t ha-1 were annually broadcast over the soil surface, without incorporation, in an apple orchard with cultivar ´Catarina´, planted in 1997. Gypsum application over eight consecutive years had no effect on soil exchangeable K and Al to a depth of 80 cm, but increased exchangeable Ca in the sampled layers (0-10, 10-20, 40-60 and 60-80 cm), while exchangeable Mg decreased only in the surface layer (0-20 cm). Gypsum did not affect the concentration of any nutrient in the fruits, including Ca. The same was verified in the leaves, except for Mg which decreased with increased gypsum rate. Despite increasing the availability of Ca in the soil profile to a depth of 80 cm, gypsum was not effective to increase the Ca content in leaves and fruits of an apple cultivar susceptible to Ca deficiency grown in an appropriately limed soil.

Forms of inorganic phosphorus in soil under different long term soil tillage systems and winter crops

The cultivation of crops with different capacity of P uptake and use under long-term soil tillage systems can affect the distribution of P cycling and inorganic forms in the soil, as a result of higher or lower use efficiency of P applied in fertilizers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of long-term cultivation of different winter species under tillage systems on the distribution of inorganic P forms in the soil. In 1986, the experiment was initiated with six winter crops (blue lupin, hairy vetch, oat, oilseed radish, wheat and fallow) on a Rhodic Hapludox in southwestern Paraná, under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). The application of phosphate fertilizer in NT rows increased inorganic P in the labile and moderately labile forms, and soil disturbance in CT redistributed the applied P in the deeper layers, increasing the moderately labile P concentration in the subsurface layers. Black oat and blue lupin were the most efficient P-recyclers and under NT, they increased the labile P content in the soil surface layers.

Iowa Department on Aging, Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Annual Report 2012 (Federal Fiscal Year October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011), January 2012.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program (SLTCOP)operates as a unit within the Iowa Department on Aging. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing, skilled nursing, residential care, and nursing facilities in hospitals as well as elder group homes and assisted living facilities. In order to carry out all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act this office recommends to establish a fully functioning volunteer ombudsman program that meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Older Americans Act as well as to strengthen family & resident councils, and to increase collaboration between the SLTCOP and Iowa’s Aging Network.

External beam radiotherapy ± chemotherapy in the treatment of anal canal cancer: a single-institute long-term experience on 100 patients.

One-hundred patients treated with curative radiotherapy (RT) ± chemotherapy (CT) for an anal canal carcinoma (T1-4N0-3M0) were retrospectively analyzed. Five- and 10-year local control (LC) rates were 73% and 67%, respectively. Acute and late G3-G4 toxicity rates were 32% and 12%, respectively. Two patients underwent a colostomy for a G4 anal toxicity. This study confirms the outcomes of RT ± CT in the treatment of anal canal cancer. Concomitant CT and LC statistically influenced Overall Survival and Colostomy-Free Survival. CT also statistically reduced the risk of nodal relapse. High rates of acute skin toxicity impose tailored volumes and techniques of irradiation.