Soil P and cation availability and crop uptake in a forage rotation under conventional and reduced tillage

Long-term conservation tillage can modify vertical distribution of nutrients in soil profiles and alter nutrient availability and yields of crops.

Shift Scheduling in Services When Employees Have Limited Availability: An L. P. Approach

This paper compares two linear programming (LP) models for shift scheduling in services where homogeneously-skilled employees are available at limited times. Although both models are based on set covering approaches, one explicitly matches employees to shifts, while the other imposes this matching implicitly. Each model is used in three forms—one with complete, another with very limited meal break placement flexibility, and a third without meal breaks—to provide initial schedules to a completion/improvement heuristic. The term completion/improvement heuristic is used to describe a construction/ improvement heuristic operating on a starting schedule. On 80 test problems varying widely in scheduling flexibility, employee staffing requirements, and employee availability characteristics, all six LP-based procedures generated lower cost schedules than a comparison from-scratch construction/improvement heuristic. This heuristic, which perpetually maintains an explicit matching of employees to shifts, consists of three phases which add, drop, and modify shifts. In terms of schedule cost, schedule generation time, and model size, the procedures based on the implicit model performed better, as a group, than those based on the explicit model. The LP model with complete break placement flexibility and implicitly matching employees to shifts generated schedules costing 6.7% less than those developed by the from-scratch heuristic.

Applicazione di tecniche di Reliability, Availability e Maintainability analysis in un’azienda produttrice di macchine automatiche. Il caso Ima S.p.A.

Il seguente lavoro di tesi è nato durante un’attività di stage della durata di 7 mesi svolto all’interno della divisione Tea&Coffe di IMA S.p.A., azienda leader mondiale nella produzione di macchine automatiche per il confezionamento di prodotti farmaceutici, cosmetici, alimentari, tè e caffè. Le attività svolte si collocano all’interno di un progetto avviato da IMA per promuovere il passaggio ad un modello di industria necessariamente più evoluta, facendo leva sull’attitudine ad integrare e sviluppare nuove conoscenze e nuove tecnologie interdisciplinari e, allo stesso tempo, di massimizzare la sinergia tra le dimensioni tecnica ed economica, comportando una reale riduzione di sprechi nella filiera produttiva, commerciale ed ambientale. I moderni impianti di produzione devono infatti affrontare una sfida che li vede alla continua ricerca della produttività, ovvero di una produzione che remuneri velocemente e con ampi margini gli investimenti effettuati, della qualità dei prodotti e dei processi di produzione, ovvero della garanzia di soddisfacimento delle aspettative espresse ed inespresse del cliente, e della sicurezza per la salvaguardia della collettività e dell’ambiente. L’obiettivo di questo elaborato è stato quello di effettuare lo studio affidabilistico di una macchina automatica per la produzione di bustine di tè al fine di poterne studiare il suo comportamento al guasto e di elaborare in un secondo momento le politiche manutentive ottimizzate che ne permettano una gestione più efficiente. In questo ambito la macchina è stata scomposta in gruppi e sono stati esaminati tutti i pezzi di ricambio che sono stati richiesti in un arco temporale di durata pari a dieci anni, il fine è quello di poter individuare ed effettuare un’analisi affidabilistica dei componenti critici per poi procedere, attraverso l’uso di piattaforme software quali Weibull++ e Blocksim, col modellarne le distribuzioni statistiche e simulare il funzionamento del sistema nel suo complesso.

Seasonal resource availability and use by an endangered tropical mycophagous marsupial

This study highlights the importance of considering how seasonality of rainfall affects availability of resources and consequently species distributions within tropical ecosystems. The endangered northern bettong, Bettongia tropica Wakefield is thought to be restricted to habitats where seasonal availability of hypogeous fungi, their principal food resource, remains high. To test this hypothesis fungal abundance was quantified in the early wet, late wet, early dry and late dry seasons within known bettong habitat. A relationship was found between precipitation and fungal availability, with the abundance of hypogeous fungi being significantly lower in the late dry season. Fungal availability correlated strongly with the seasonal rainfall pattern determined from 74-year monthly means. This contrasts with a previous study where mycophagy, measured by faecal analysis, remained high across seasons presumably because of aseasonal rainfall during that study period. Alloteropsis semialata R.Br. (cockatoo grass) use by bettongs increased significantly during the period of low fungal availability. This suggests that the importance of cockatoo grass as an alternative food resource during annual and extended dry periods has previously been underestimated. With the frequency and intensity of drought expected to increase with global climate change, these findings have significant implications for bettong management. The important and possibly equivalent dependence of B. tropica on both hypogeous fungi and A. semialata helps to explain their habitat preference and identifies this species as a true ecotonal specialist.

Availability of soil potassium and diagnostic soil tests

Thirty-seven surface (0-0.10 or 0-0.20 m) soils covering a wide range of soil types (16 Vertosols, 6 Ferrosols, 6 Dermosols, 4 Hydrosols, 2 Kandosols, 1 Sodosol, 1 Rudosol, and 1 Chromosol) were exhaustively cropped in 2 glasshouse experiments. The test species were Panicum maximum cv. Green Panic in Experiment A and Avena sativa cv. Barcoo in Experiment B. Successive forage harvests were taken until the plants could no longer grow in most soils because of severe potassium (K) deficiency. Soil samples were taken prior to cropping and after the final harvest in both experiments, and also after the initial harvest in Experiment B. Samples were analysed for solution K, exchangeable K (Exch K), tetraphenyl borate extractable K for extraction periods of 15 min (TBK15) and 60 min (TBK60), and boiling nitric acid extractable K (Nitric K). Inter-correlations between the initial levels of the various soil K parameters indicated that the following pools were in sequential equilibrium: solution K, Exch K, fast release fixed K [estimated as (TBK15-Exch K)], and slow release fixed K [estimated as (TBK60-TBK15)]. Structural K [estimated as (Nitric K-TBK60)] was not correlated with any of the other pools. However, following exhaustive drawdown of soil K by cropping, structural K became correlated with solution K, suggesting dissolution of K minerals when solution K was low. The change in the various K pools following cropping was correlated with K uptake at Harvest 1 ( Experiment B only) and cumulative K uptake ( both experiments). The change in Exch K for 30 soils was linearly related to cumulative K uptake (r = 0.98), although on average, K uptake was 35% higher than the change in Exch K. For the remaining 7 soils, K uptake considerably exceeded the change in Exch K. However, the changes in TBK15 and TBK60 were both highly linearly correlated with K uptake across all soils (r = 0.95 and 0.98, respectively). The slopes of the regression lines were not significantly different from unity, and the y-axis intercepts were very small. These results indicate that the plant is removing K from the TBK pool. Although the change in Exch K did not consistently equate with K uptake across all soils, initial Exch K was highly correlated with K uptake (r = 0.99) if one Vertosol was omitted. Exchangeable K is therefore a satisfactory diagnostic indicator of soil K status for the current crop. However, the change in Exch K following K uptake is soil-dependent, and many soils with large amounts of TBK relative to Exch K were able to buffer changes in Exch K. These soils tended to be Vertosols occurring on floodplains. In contrast, 5 soils (a Dermosol, a Rudosol, a Kandosol, and 2 Hydrosols) with large amounts of TBK did not buffer decreases in Exch K caused by K uptake, indicating that the TBK pool in these soils was unavailable to plants under the conditions of these experiments. It is likely that K fertiliser recommendations will need to take account of whether the soil has TBK reserves, and the availability of these reserves, when deciding rates required to raise exchangeable K status to adequate levels.

High frequency fire alters C:N:P stoichiometry in forest litter

Fire is a major driver of ecosystem change and can disproportionately affect the cycling of different nutrients. Thus, a stoichiometric approach to investigate the relationships between nutrient availability and microbial resource use during decomposition is likely to provide insight into the effects of fire on ecosystem functioning. We conducted a field litter bag experiment to investigate the long-term impact of repeated fire on the stoichiometry of leaf litter C, N and P pools, and nutrient-acquiring enzyme activities during decomposition in a wet sclerophyll eucalypt forest in Queensland, Australia. Fire frequency treatments have been maintained since 1972, including burning every two years (2yrB), burning every four years (4yrB) and no burning (NB). C:N ratios in freshly fallen litter were 29-42% higher and C:P ratios were 6-25% lower for 2yrB than NB during decomposition, with correspondingly lower 2yrB N:P ratios (27-32) than for NB (34-49). Trends in litter soluble and microbial N:P ratios were similar to the overall litter N:P ratios across fire treatments. Consistent with these, the ratio of activities for N-acquiring to P-acquiring enzymes in litter was higher for 2yrB than NB while 4yrB was generally intermediate between 2yrB and NB. Decomposition rates of freshly fallen litter were significantly lower for 2yrB (72±2% mass remaining at the end of experiment) than for 4yrB (59±3%) and NB (62±3%), a difference that may be related to effects of N limitation, lower moisture content, and/or litter C quality. Results for older mixed-age litter were similar to those for freshly fallen litter although treatment differences were less pronounced. Overall, these findings show that frequent fire (2yrB) decoupled N and P cycling, as manifested in litter C:N:P stoichiometry and in microbial biomass N:P ratio and enzymatic activities. These data indicate that fire induced a transient shift to N-limited ecosystem conditions during the post-fire recovery phase. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Soil N availability, rather than N deposition, controls indirect N2O emissions

Ammonia volatilised and re-deposited to the landscape is an indirect N2O emission source. This study established a relationship between N2O emissions, low magnitude NH4 deposition (0–30  kg N ha − 1 ), and soil moisture content in two soils using in-vessel incubations. Emissions from the clay soil peaked ( < 0.002 g N [ g soil ] − 1 min − 1 ) from 85 to 93% WFPS (water filled pore space), increasing to a plateau as remaining mineral-N increased. Peak N2O emissions for the sandy soil were much lower ( < 5 × 10 − 5 μg N [ g soil ] − 1 min − 1 ) and occurred at about 60% WFPS, with an indistinct relationship with increasing resident mineral N due to the low rate of nitrification in that soil. Microbial community and respiration data indicated that the clay soil was dominated by denitrifiers and was more biologically active than the sandy soil. However, the clay soil also had substantial nitrifier communities even under peak emission conditions. A process-based mathematical denitrification model was well suited to the clay soil data where all mineral-N was assumed to be nitrified ( R 2 = 90 % ), providing a substrate for denitrification. This function was not well suited to the sandy soil where nitrification was much less complete. A prototype relationship representing mineral-N pool conversions (NO3− and NH4+) was proposed based on time, pool concentrations, moisture relationships, and soil rate constants (preliminary testing only). A threshold for mineral-N was observed: emission of N2O did not occur from the clay soil for mineral-N <70 mg ( kg of soil ) − 1 , suggesting that soil N availability controls indirect N2O emissions. This laboratory process investigation challenges the IPCC approach which predicts indirect emissions from atmospheric N deposition alone.

Land availability and biomass production potential in India

In this paper we have assessed the availability of land and the potential for biomass production in India to meet various demands for biomass, including modern bioenergy. This is estimated by considering the various demands on land and its suitability. The biomass production potential of energy plantations is assessed for different agroecological zones. The total woody biomass production is estimated to be 321 Mt, based on biomass productivity in the range 2 to 17 t/ha/yr for the different agro-ecological zones and considering the conservative estimate of 43 Mha land availability for biomass production. A surplus of 231 Mt of biomass (after meeting the increased demand for fuelwood and timber by the year 2010) is estimated to be available for energy, which has an electricity generation potential of 231 TWh. As a first step, only the feasible physical potential of biomass production is assessed, along with an analysis of barriers. The potential costs and benefits of biomass production strategy are not analysed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Load Balancing with Availability Checker and Load Reporters (LB-ACLRs) for improved Performance in Distributed Systems

Distributed system has quite a lot of servers to attain increased availability of service and for fault tolerance. Balancing the load among these servers is an important task to achieve better performance. There are various hardware and software based load balancing solutions available. However there is always an overhead on Servers and the Load Balancer while communicating with each other and sharing their availability and the current load status information. Load balancer is always busy in listening to clients' request and redirecting them. It also needs to collect the servers' availability status frequently, to keep itself up-to-date. Servers are busy in not only providing service to clients but also sharing their current load information with load balancing algorithms. In this paper we have proposed and discussed the concept and system model for software based load balancer along with Availability-Checker and Load Reporters (LB-ACLRs) which reduces the overhead on server and the load balancer. We have also described the architectural components with their roles and responsibilities. We have presented a detailed analysis to show how our proposed Availability Checker significantly increases the performance of the system.

植物N;P计量化学：中国高等之外的分异规律与野外试验初步验证

元素化学计量学指从化学计量学的角度出发，通过分析比较生命物质不同结构层次（分子、细胞、器官、机体、种群、群落等）或生态系统中元素的相对比值，来研究各层次相互之间以及生态学过程中元素之间的关系。生态化学计量学研究可以把生态实体的各个层次存元素水平上统一起来，足近年来新兴的一个生态学研究领域，广泛应用于生态学研究中。C，N，P是生物地球化学循环中的重要元素，在生态系统中占有重要地位，许多环境问题都与它们有关，由此这三种元素的化学计量学受到生态学家们的普遍关注。C:N:P化学计量学在水生生态系统中研究较为深入，目前已发展到染色体水平，而在陆地生态系统中的研究较为匮乏近年来由于人类活动的强烈影响，这三种元素的循环在速度和规模上都发生了前所未有的改变，导致一系列环境问题的出现，因此C：N:P化学计量学在陆地生态系统中的研究就显得尤为重要。作为地球生命存在基础的绿色植物，在地球上已有数亿年的演化历史，研究陆地植物的元素化学计量学不仅有助于深入了解植物存在于地球上的内在机制，而且可以为许多环境问题的解决提供理论依据。本文首先建立中国不同地区植物氮磷含量数据库，通过数据分析找出一般规律，并进一步揭示植物不同进化阶段N:P化学计量比的变化规律。在此基础上，通过在内蒙古羊草草原设立不同施肥样地来模拟自然界不同氮磷环境，从试验水平上研究不同施肥处理及施肥梯度下生态系统中氮、磷、有机质的变化规律，并从化学计量学角度研究其内在机制。 利州新建成的中国维管植物数据库（包含1603种植物）研究了不同进化水平以及不同功能群（生活型）间植物N:P比的变化规律，并沿胡焕庸线（胡线）把中团分为为东西两部分，从总体水平上对比了东、西部间叫植物氮磷含量以及N：P的异同。结果表明：l）从演化水平来看，尽管氮磷含量表现出极大的差异，除豆科植物外，植物N：P基本保持稳定水平;2）木本植物与草本植物的N：P比差异．显著，木本植物之间（常绿乔木，常绿灌木，落叶乔木，落叶灌木）N：P不具有显著差异;3）中国东西部植物养分含量和N：P比表现出极显著差异，东部的养分含量低于西部，而N:P显著高于西部。 在内蒙古羊草草原两块永久实验样地（样地A：1980年围封样地和样地B：1999年田封样地）进行了为期两年的N素和P素添加试验。氮素添加梯度为0，5，15，30，50，80 g NHN03.m.2.yr-1。P素添加梯度为0，2，4，8，16，and 32 g P2Osm-2 yr-1（仪分析了羊草器官的结果）。分别从植物器官、物种、功能群水平研究了N素添加对N:P化学计量学的影响，此外还研究了土壤和凋落物C：N:P化学计量学对N素添加的响应。结合生物量的变化趋势，探讨了元素化学计量学对养分状况的指示作用。 1．羊草器官对施肥的响应结果表明，添加N素可以显著提高羊草器官中的含N量，p素可以显著提高器官中的含P量：除2001年样地A中的根茎外，根茎中的含P量基本不受N素添加的影响;茎中的含P量同样表现出不受N素添加影响的趋势（2000年B区茎除外）：N素添加可以显著增大羊草叶片中的含P量(B区2000年叶片除外)。P素添加对羊草器官的含N量没有影响;羊草器官中的氮磷含量施肥处理下表现出显著的正相关关系（N素添加下B区叶片除外）。N素添加对羊草器官的N:P比没有显著影响（A区茎2000年和B区叶片2000年除外）：P素添加显著降低了羊草器官中的N:P比。 2．四种优势植物（羊草、羽茅、针茅和苔草）地上生物量和N:P化学计量学对氮肥的响应研究发现，四个物种的氮磷含量均具有极显著相关关系;氮肥可以显著提高样地A中的羽茅生物量，降低苔草的生物量，而使样地B中的羊草生物量增大;两块样地中，四个物种的氮磷含量及N：P比均随N素水平的增高而增大（样地A中的羽茅N:P比除外）。 3．基于生活型划分的功能群（多年生根茎禾草，多年生丛生禾草，豆科植物，多年生杂类草，一二年生植物，灌木和半灌木）对N素添加的响应研究表明：施N可以提高样地A中的多年生丛生禾草的生物量，而使样地B中的多年生根苇禾草增加;多年生杂类草的相对多度在两个样地中均随施氨水平的增加而显著 降低：在样地B中，施氮可以显著提高不同功能群的氮磷含量;在样地A中，功能群N、P含量对施肥的响应并没有一致的变化规律，添加N素可以显著提高不同功能群的含N量（豆科植物除外），多年生根茎禾草和多年生杂类草的P含量有显著增大的趋势（P < 0.005），而其它功能群（豆科植物、灌木和小半灌木、多年生杂类草和～二年生杂类草）的P含量基本恒定（P>0.05）;在样地A中，多年生丛生禾草，多年生杂类草，一二年生植物，灌木和半灌木的N：P比随施氨水平的增加而显著增大，多年生根茎禾草和豆科植物的N:P比基本不变;在样地B中，多年生丛生禾草的N:P比随施氨水平的增加而显著增大，多年生根茎禾草、多年生杂类草和…二年生杂类草不受施氨水平的影响。 4．添加N素对根实验结果表明：两块样地中，上层根(0-10 cm)的生物量仅在施N后第一年显著增加，而下层根(10-20 cm)的地下生物量在两年的施N处理下均不受施肥梯度的影响i在样地A中，施肥后第一年对根的N、P含量影响不显著，施肥后第二年可以显著增大上层根的N、P含量;在样地B中，添加N素后第一年可以显著增大根的含P量; 在两个样地中，两年的N肥处理对根的N：P比没有显著影响：在施氨处理中，根的N、P含量及N:P比在施肥第一年的响应要高于第二年。 5．所有处理中，上层土壤(O-lO cm)养分含量（有机碳，全氮，全磷）均高于下层土壤（10-20 cm）;在样地A中，氮素添加对r十壤有机碳没有显著性作用，在施肥第一年可以显著增加上层土壤的N、P含量，而在施肥后第二年对土壤N、P含量没有显著影响;在样地B中，添加N素对两年的土壤养分均没有显著影响：养分添加两个样地土壤中的元素比值（C:N比，C:P比，N:P比）没有显著影响;土壤养分对施N一年后的响应要高于第二年。 6．养分添加对凋落物化学特征及化学计量学特征的影响研究结果表明：凋落物现存量不受施肥的影响;2001年凋落物现存量与2000年和2001年的地上生物量相关关系不显著;添加N素可以显著提高凋落物的N含量，而对有机碳含量和P含量没有显著影响;凋落物C：N比随施肥梯度的增大而显著降低，N:P比显著增高，而C:P比没有明显变化。 以上研究结果表明，不同植物功能群的N:P比存在差异，人类活动强烈影响自然植被中的植物N：P比;但植物的N：P比不受植物进化的影响（豆科植物除外）;由于植物已有数亿年的演化历史，同时N与P在植物的结构和功能上具有密切的联系，在生物地球化学循环中办存在耦合作用。因此植物N：P比值恒定可能是一普适性规律。 N素添加试验表明，在植物根、地上器官、物种和功能群水平上N与P均呈显著正相关关系，反映了植物体内的氮磷含量具有协同作用。共存种对N肥的响应不同，表明物种受不同元素的制约。因此除非把生态系统中所有物种对施肥的响应刻画清楚，笼统的认定生态系统缺乏某种元素是不适当的。 施肥试验表明，两种围封时间样地的主要限制性元素不同。极度退化(样地B)植物生长主要缺N，而在保护较好样地(样地A)，P也逐步成为一种限制因素。反映了随着保护时间的增加，植物生长逐渐由N限制型向N、P共同限制型过渡。添加的养分要么被植物吸收，挥发到大气中，或以凋落物的形式返还到土壤表层。但是对养分的预算有待于进一步研究。土壤中的养分含量对N素添加有…个滞后效应，而植物响应较为迅速。功能群N:P比在施肥实验中不能保持恒定，可能是由于实验时间较短的缘故;化学计量学的研究表明羊草草原分解凋落物的微生物受P素的制约，可能是由于植物体内具有高的P素再转运机制。这一结论有待于进一步的验证。氮肥降低了凋落物的C:N比，因此凋落物的分解速率可能将要发生改变。这需要进一步开展C循环的研究。

The biology and availability of the spiny lobster Palinurus delagoae Barnard, off the coast of Mozambique

Catch and effort data and some biological characteristics of the deep water spiny lobster P. delagoae collected between August 1980 and December 1981, are presented. The work was conducted on board a commercial vessel off the coast of Mozambique.

Low temperature (< 100 °c) deposited P-type cuprous oxide thin films: Importance of controlled oxygen and deposition energy

With the emergence of transparent electronics, there has been considerable advancement in n-type transparent semiconducting oxide (TSO) materials, such as ZnO, InGaZnO, and InSnO. Comparatively, the availability of p-type TSO materials is more scarce and the available materials are less mature. The development of p-type semiconductors is one of the key technologies needed to push transparent electronics and systems to the next frontier, particularly for implementing p-n junctions for solar cells and p-type transistors for complementary logic/circuits applications. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is one of the most promising candidates for p-type TSO materials. This paper reports the deposition of Cu2O thin films without substrate heating using a high deposition rate reactive sputtering technique, called high target utilisation sputtering (HiTUS). This technique allows independent control of the remote plasma density and the ion energy, thus providing finer control of the film properties and microstructure as well as reducing film stress. The effect of deposition parameters, including oxygen flow rate, plasma power and target power, on the properties of Cu2O films are reported. It is known from previously published work that the formation of pure Cu2O film is often difficult, due to the more ready formation or co-formation of cupric oxide (CuO). From our investigation, we established two key concurrent criteria needed for attaining Cu2O thin films (as opposed to CuO or mixed phase CuO/Cu2O films). First, the oxygen flow rate must be kept low to avoid over-oxidation of Cu2O to CuO and to ensure a non-oxidised/non-poisoned metallic copper target in the reactive sputtering environment. Secondly, the energy of the sputtered copper species must be kept low as higher reaction energy tends to favour the formation of CuO. The unique design of the HiTUS system enables the provision of a high density of low energy sputtered copper radicals/ions, and when combined with a controlled amount of oxygen, can produce good quality p-type transparent Cu2O films with electrical resistivity ranging from 102 to 104 Ω-cm, hole mobility of 1-10 cm2/V-s, and optical band-gap of 2.0-2.6 eV. These material properties make this low temperature deposited HiTUS Cu 2O film suitable for fabrication of p-type metal oxide thin film transistors. Furthermore, the capability to deposit Cu2O films with low film stress at low temperatures on plastic substrates renders this approach favourable for fabrication of flexible p-n junction solar cells. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimisation of fuel usage and steam availability in the power and steam plant of a paper mill

This paper presents the results of a project aimed at minimising fuel usage while maximising steam availability in the power and steam plant of a large newsprint mill. The approach taken was to utilise the better regulation and plant wide optimisation capabilities of Advanced Process Control, especially Model Predictive Control (MPC) techniques. These have recently made their appearance in the pulp and paper industry but are better known in the oil and petrochemical industry where they have been used for nearly 30 years. The issue in the power and steam plant is to ensure that sufficient steam is available when the paper machines require it and yet not to have to waste too much steam when one or more of the machines suffers an outage. This is a problem for which MPC is well suited. It allows variables to be kept within declared constraint ranges, a feature which has been used, effectively, to increase the steam storage capacity of the existing plant. This has resulted in less steam being condensed when it is not required and in significant reductions in the need for supplementary firing. The incidence of steam being dump-condensed while also supplementary firing the Combined Heat & Power (CHP) plant has been reduced by 95% and the overall use of supplementary firing is less than 30% of what it was. In addition the plant runs more smoothly and requires less operator time. The yearly benefit provided by the control system is greater than £200,000, measured in terms of 2005 gas prices.

Carbon and nitrogen metabolism of an eutrophication tolerative macrophyte, Potamogeton crispus, under NH4+ stress and low light availability

Submersed macrophytes in eutrophic lakes often experience high NH4+ concentration and low light availability in the water column. This study found that an NH4+-N concentration of 1 mgL(-1) in the water column apparently caused physiological stress on the macrophyte Potamogeton crispus; L The plants accumulated free amino acids (FAA) and lost soluble carbohydrates (SC) under NH4+ stress. These stressful effects of NH4+ were exacerbated under low light availability. Shading significantly increased NH4+ and FAA contents and dramatically decreased SC and starch contents in the plant shoots. At an NH4+-N concentration of 1 mg L-1 in the water column, neither growth inhibition nor NH4+ accumulation was observed in the plant tissues of P. crispus under normal light availability. The results showed that 1 mg L-1 NH4+-N in the water column was not toxic to P. crispus in a short term. To avoid NH4+ toxicity. active NH4+ transportation out of the cell may cost energy and thus result in a decline of carbohydrate. When NH4+ inescapably accumulates in the plant cell, i.e. under NH4+ Stress and shading, NH4+ is scavenged by FAA synthesis. (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.

gamma cross section in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV

We report on a measurement of the gamma(1S + 2S + 3S) -> e(+)e(-) cross section at midrapidity in p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV. We find the cross section to be 114 +/- 38(stat + fit)(-24)(+23)(syst) pb. Perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading order in the color evaporation model are in agreement with our measurement, while calculations in the color singlet model underestimate it by 2 sigma. Our result is consistent with the trend seen in world data as a function of the center-of-mass energy of the collision and extends the availability of gamma data to RHIC energies. The dielectron continuum in the invariant-mass range near the gamma is also studied to obtain a combined yield of e(+)e(-) pairs from the sum of the Drell-Yan process and b-(b) over bar production.