Seed and vegetative propagation methods for the rare Florida native species Chionanthus pygmaeus (pygmy fringetree)

Chionanthus pygmaeus Small (pygmy fringetree) (Oleaceae) is an endemic and rare Florida species, which has an attractive, small habit giving it great potential for use in managed landscapes. Members of the genus Chionanthus are difficult to propagate via cuttings and possess complex seed dormancies that are not well understood. Conservation of pygmy fringetree and its potential for commercial propagation for use in managed landscapes is contingent on a better understanding of its complex seed dormancy and enhancement of its propagation. I conducted two experiments to assess sexual and asexual propagation methods for pygmy fringetree. The first experiment was conducted to determine what factors are involved in overcoming seed dormancy. Various scarification treatments, which mimicked conditions seeds are exposed to in the wild, were investigated to determine their effects on germination of 20-year-old seeds originally collected from the species’ native range. Treatments included endocarp removal, sulfuric acid, boiling-water, and smoke-water treatments. Prior to treatment initiation, seed viability was estimated to be 12%. Treated seeds went through two cold- and two warm-stratification periods of 4°C and 25°C, respectively, in a dark growth chamber. After 180 days, none of the treatments induced early germination. Seeds were then tested for viability, which was 11%. Seed dormancy of the species is apparently complex, allowing some of the seeds to retain some degree of viability, but without dormancy requirements satisfied. The second experiment was conducted to assess if pygmy fringetree could be successfully propagated via hardwood or root cuttings if the appropriate combination of environmental conditions and hormones were applied. Hardwood and root cuttings were treated with either 1000 ppm IBA talc, 8000 ppm IBA talc, or inert talc. All cuttings were placed on a mist bench in a greenhouse for 9 weeks. Hardwood cuttings were supplemented with bottom heat at 24 °C. No treatments were successful in inducing adventitious root formation. I conclude that pygmy fringetree seeds possess complex dormancy that was not able to be overcome by the treatments utilized. However, this result is confounded by the age of the seeds used in the experiment. I also conclude that vegetative propagation of pygmy fringetree is highly dependent on the time of year cuttings are harvested. Further research of both seed and asexual propagation methods need to be explored before pygmy fringetree can be propagated on a commercial scale.

Subspace wavepacket evolution with Newton polynomials

Time-dependent wavepacket evolution techniques demand the action of the propagator, exp(-iHt/(h)over-bar), on a suitable initial wavepacket. When a complex absorbing potential is added to the Hamiltonian for combating unwanted reflection effects, polynomial expansions of the propagator are selected on their ability to cope with non-Hermiticity. An efficient subspace implementation of the Newton polynomial expansion scheme that requires fewer dense matrix-vector multiplications than its grid-based counterpart has been devised. Performance improvements are illustrated with some benchmark one and two-dimensional examples. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Root system distribution and yield of 'Conilon' coffee propagated by seeds or cuttings

The objective of this work was to evaluate the root system distribution and the yield of 'Conilon' coffee (Coffea canephora) propagated by seeds or cuttings. The experiment was carried out with 2x1 m spacing, in an Oxisol with sandy clay loam texture. A randomized complete block design was used, following a 2x9x6 factorial arrangement, with two propagation methods (seeds and cuttings), nine sampling spacings (0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60, 0.75, and 0.90 m between rows, and 0.15, 0.30, and 0.45 between plants within rows), six soil depths (0.10-0.20, 0.20-0.30, 0.30-0.40, 0.40-0.50, and 0.50-0.60 m), and six replicates. Soil cores (27 cm3) with roots were taken from 12 experimental units, 146 months after planting. The surface area of the root system and root diameter, length, and volume were assessed for 13 years and, then, correlated with grain yield. The highest fine root concentration occurred at the superficial soil layers. The variables used to characterize the root system did not differ between propagation methods. Moreover, no differences were observed for net photosynthetic CO2 assimilation rate, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentrations, and instantaneous water-use efficiency in the leaves. Cutting-propagated plants were more productive than seed-propagated ones.

Produtividade de pessegueiros 'Aurora-1' em diferentes espaçamentos e métodos de propagação do porta-enxerto 'Okinawa'

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Influência do ácido indolbutírico no enraizamento de estacas apicais e basais de caramboleira (Averrhoa carambola L.) sob condições de nebulização intermitente

A produção de mudas de caramboleira é um dos fatores limitantes à expansão comercial da cultura, devido ao tempo que estas levam para serem formadas e iniciarem a produção. Uma boa alternativa pode estar na otimização dos métodos de propagação vegetativa, através de estudos relativos aos processos e fatores envolvidos no enraizamento de estacas. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de estudar o enraizamento de estacas apicais e basais de caramboleira, tratadas com ácido indolbutírico (IBA), em condições de nebulização intermitente. Estacas apicais e basais de caramboleira foram coletadas de ramos de plantas-matrizes da cultivar B-10 e submetidas à aplicação de cinco concentrações de IBA (0; 1.000; 3.000; 5.000 e 7000 mg.L-1), em imersão por 10 segundos, para avaliar a capacidade de sobrevivência, enraizamento e número médio de raízes/estaca. Posteriormente, as estacas foram colocadas em caixas de madeira contendo vermiculita média como substrato e mantidas em casa de vegetação, sob nebulização intermitente, durante 70 dias. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi em esquema fatorial 2 x 5, com 4 repetições e 10 estacas/parcela. As estacas apicais obtiveram melhores resultados para porcentagem de sobrevivência (49,26%), enraizamento (34,84%) e número médio de raízes (20,51), mostrando-se superiores às basais. O uso de IBA não influenciou em nenhuma das variáveis analisadas.

Crescimento e desempenho de bertalha (Basella alba L.) em função do tipo de propagação

Malabar spinach is a non-conventional vegetable propagated mainly by seeds. This research evaluated the propagation by stem cuttings as an alternative method of propagation and verified its effect on growth of the vegetable. Plantlets propagated by seeds and stem cuttings were grown in greenhouse and their growth were evaluated in five successive intervals of 21 days each, with the first evaluation carried out 60 days after the transplanting. The results showed that the propagation methods have influence on the Malabar spinach growth. Plants propagated by seeds display slow, but vigorous growth, with larger relative yield of leaves and tender leaves, while plants propagated by cuttings showed fast initial growth, with rapid fruit formation. Thus, the propagation by cuttings is more suitable for seed production, while propagation by seeds is more profitable for leaves production.

Enraizamento de estacas herbáceas de nespereira (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl)

O cultivo da nespereira (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl) tem despertado interesse no Brasil, devido ao bom rendimento que proporciona aos produtores e à facilidade de comercialização. Com isso, cada vez mais se buscam métodos de propagação que preservem as características genéticas de interesse, induzam precocidade na formação da muda e no início de produção, além de baixo custo. O método de estaquia se adequa a estas características; sendo assim, o objetivo deste experimento é avaliar o efeito do tipo de estaca herbácea na produção de mudas de nespereira, num experimento conduzido na Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV/UNESP, Câmpus de Jaboticabal (SP), utilizando plantas matrizes de nespereiras, plantadas em 1977, da variedade Mizuho, pertencentes à coleção de plantas frutíferas da Universidade. Utilizaram-se estacas apicais herbáceas com e sem meristema apical, com 2 ou 4 folhas inteiras ou cortadas pela metade, num total de 6 tratamentos, 4 repetições e 12 estacas por parcela, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado. Após 120 dias do plantio das estacas em bandejas com vermiculita e mantidas sob câmara de nebulização, concluiu-se que a porcentagem de estacas vivas e a presença de calos foram significativamente maiores nas estacas apicais sem meristema e com quatro folhas inteiras, e não há efeito do tipo de estaca herbácea sobre o número de estacas enraizadas, número e comprimento médio de raízes. A presença de calos na base das estacas indica a possibilidade de estímulo natural de enraizamento que pode ser potencializada com a utilização de fitorreguladores.

Protocolo para micropropagação de bananeira ‘Thap maeo’

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

DROMO formulation for planar motions: Solution to the Tsien Problem

The two-body problem subject to a constant radial thrust is analyzed as a planar motion. The description of the problem is performed in terms of three perturbation methods: DROMO and two others due to Deprit. All of them rely on Hansen?s ideal frame concept. An explicit, analytic, closed-form solution is obtained for this problem when the initial orbit is circular (Tsien problem), based on the DROMO special perturbation method, and expressed in terms of elliptic integral functions. The analytical solution to the Tsien problem is later used as a reference to test the numerical performance of various orbit propagation methods, including DROMO and Deprit methods, as well as Cowell and Kustaanheimo?Stiefel methods.

Método da propagação de feixe de ângulo largo para análise de guias de ondas ópticos não-lineares

Este trabalho propõe uma extensão do método de propagação de feixe (BPM - Beam Propagation Method) para a análise de guias de ondas ópticos e acopladores baseados em materiais não-lineares do tipo Kerr. Este método se destina à investigação de estruturas onde a utilização da equação escalar de Helmholtz (EEH) em seu limite paraxial não mais se aplica. Os métodos desenvolvidos para este fim são denominados na literatura como métodos de propagação de feixe de ângulo largo. O formalismo aqui desenvolvido é baseado na técnica das diferenças finitas e nos esquemas de Crank-Nicholson (CN) e Douglas generalizado (GD). Estes esquemas apresentam como característica o fato de apresentarem um erro de truncamento em relação ao passo de discretização transversal, Δx, proporcional a O(Δx2) para o primeiro e O(Δx4). A convergência do método em ambos esquemas é otimizada pela utilização de um algoritmo interativo para a correção do campo no meio não-linear. O formalismo de ângulo largo é obtido pela expansão da EEH para os esquemas CN e GD em termos de polinômios aproximantes de Padé de ordem (1,0) e (1,1) para CN e GD, e (2,2) e (3,3) para CN. Os aproximantes de ordem superior a (1,1) apresentam sérios problemas de estabilidade. Este problema é eliminado pela rotação dos aproximantes no plano complexo. Duas condições de contorno nos extremos da janela computacional são também investigadas: 1) (TBC - Transparent Boundary Condition) e 2) condição de contorno absorvente (TAB - Transparent Absorbing Boundary). Estas condições de contorno possuem a facilidade de evitar que reflexões indesejáveis sejam transmitidas para dentro da janela computacional. Um estudo comparativo da influência destas condições de contorno na solução de guias de ondas ópticos não-lineares é também abordada neste trabalho.

Low density parity check codes: a statistical physics perspective

The modem digital communication systems are made transmission reliable by employing error correction technique for the redundancies. Codes in the low-density parity-check work along the principles of Hamming code, and the parity-check matrix is very sparse, and multiple errors can be corrected. The sparseness of the matrix allows for the decoding process to be carried out by probability propagation methods similar to those employed in Turbo codes. The relation between spin systems in statistical physics and digital error correcting codes is based on the existence of a simple isomorphism between the additive Boolean group and the multiplicative binary group. Shannon proved general results on the natural limits of compression and error-correction by setting up the framework known as information theory. Error-correction codes are based on mapping the original space of words onto a higher dimensional space in such a way that the typical distance between encoded words increases.

Simplificação do processo de multiplicação in vitro da oliveira "Olea europaea L."

A oliveira tem sido multiplicada ao longo dos tempos por métodos convencionais de propagação vegetativa como a enxertia e a estacaria lenhosa e semilenhosa. No entanto, estes métodos revelam-se lentos ou ineficientes para determinadas cultivares. No caso da cv. ‘Galega Vulgar’, ainda com grande expressão no olival português, e de difícil enraizamento por estacaria semilenhosa, tem sido usada a micropropagação de modo a contornar essas limitações e assim obter um elevado número de plantas em curto período de tempo. O custo final de produção por este processo ainda é elevado, podendo comprometer a sua aplicação a nível comercial. Grande parte dos custos estão relacionados com a fase de enraizamento in vitro que carece de ambiente estéril e condições de assépsia para a sua execução. Com vista a uma redução de custos associados a esta fase de produção, pretendeu-se com este trabalho testar a viabilidade do enraizamento ex vitro, na ausência de condições de assépsia. Este método poderá permitir uma significativa redução da mão-de-obra, ao mesmo tempo que facilitará a aclimatização das plantas e a obtenção de um sistema radicular de melhor qualidade. Compararam-se as taxas de enraizamento in vitro (controlo), com as obtidas ex vitro. Foram utilizados explantes provenientes de dois clones da cv. ‘Galega Vulgar’, (cl. 1441 e cl. 2022) cultivados e mantidos in vitro há vários anos no Laboratório de Melhoramento e Biotecnologia da Universidade de Évora. Para além do clone foi avaliada a influência do tipo de estaca (basal e apical), da hormona de enraizamento (AIB e ANA), da sua concentração (540 e 3000 ppm) e ainda de dois substratos, Preformas Jiffy® e pastilhas de fibra coco. Os melhores resultados foram obtidos com o clone 1441 em pastilhas de fibra de coco prensada, com o uso de estacas basais. Quanto à auxina, não se observaram diferenças significativas entre a utilização de ANA na concentração de 540 ppm e AIB na concentração de 3000 ppm. A aclimatização das plantas foi conseguida com taxas elevadas de sucesso, independentemente do tratamento utilizado. Conclui-se que a aplicação do método de enraizamento ex vitro simplifica procedimentos e mantém taxas de enraizamento elevadas, conduzindo assim a uma efetiva redução de tempo e custos associados; Simplifying procedures for in vitro propagation of olive “Olea europaea L.” Abstract: The olive tree has been multiplied throughout the ages by conventional methods of vegetative propagation such as grafting and wood or softwood cuttings. These propagation methods are somehow inefficient for certain cultivars. For the CV. ‘Galega Vulgar‘, still with great expression in Portuguese olive orchards, propagation has been attempted by in vitro culture in order to circumvent these limitations and so obtain a large number of plants in short time period. The final production fees associated to this process are still high which may compromise its application to a commercial level. Most of this process fees are related to the in vitro rooting phase which lacks sterile and aseptic conditions for its implementation. Aiming to reduce the costs associated with this production phase, this work tested the feasibility of the ex vitro rooting in the absence of aseptic conditions, which can allow a significant reduction of the manpower involved and an easier plant acclimatization due to its transplant with a balled-root system. In vitro rooting rates (control) were compared with those obtained with the ex vitro experiments. Explants from two clones of the cv. ‘Galega Vulgar‘ (cl. 1441 and cl. 2022), grown and maintained in vitro for several years in the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Breeding of the University of Évora, were used in the trials. In addition to the clone, the effect of the cutting type (basal and apical), the rooting hormone (AIB and ANA), their concentration (540 and 3000 ppm) and two substrates, Preformas Jiffy ® and pressed coco fiber pellets, were also evaluated. The best results were obtained with the clone 1441, when rooted in pressed coco fiber pellets, using basal cuttings. Under this conditions no significant differences were observed between the use of ANA at 540 ppm or AIB in the 3000 ppm. Acclimatization of plants was achieved with high rates of success, regardless of the treatment used. It can be concluded that the application of the ex vitro rooting method allows to maintain high rooting rates, contributing for an effective reduction of time and fees of the rooting process.

Development of mechanical methods for cell-tray propagation and field transplanting of dwarf napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.)

Since dwarf napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) must be propagated vegetatively due to lack of viable seeds, root splitting and stem cuttings are generally used to obtain true-to-type plant populations. These ordinary methods are laborious and costly, and are the greatest barriers for expanding the cultivation area of this crop. The objectives of this research were to develop nursery production of dwarf napiergrass in cell trays and to compare the efficiency of mechanical versus manual methods for cell-tray propagation and field transplanting. After defoliation of herbage either by a sickle (manually) or hand-mowing machine, every potential aerial tiller bud was cut to a single one for transplanting into cell trays as stem cuttings and placed in a glasshouse over winter. The following June, nursery plants were trimmed to a 25–cm length and transplanted in an experimental field (sandy soil) with 20,000 plants ha^(−1) either by shovel (manually) or Welsh onion planter. Labour time was recorded for each process. The manual defoliation of plants required 44% more labour time for preparing the stem cuttings (0.73 person-min. stemcutting^(−1)) compared to using hand-mowing machinery (0.51 person-min. stem-cutting^(−1)). In contrast, labour time for transplanting required an extra 0.30 person-min. m^(−2) (14%) using the machinery compared to manual transplanting, possibly due to the limited plot size for machinery operation. The transplanting method had no significant effect on plant establishment or plant growth, except for herbage yield 110 days after planting. Defoliation of herbage by machinery, production using a cell-tray nursery and mechanical transplanting reduced the labour intensity of dwarf napiergrass propagation.

Two methods for modelling the propagation of terahertz radiation in a layered structure

Modelling the interaction of terahertz(THz) radiation with biological tissueposes many interesting problems. THzradiation is neither obviously described byan electric field distribution or anensemble of photons and biological tissueis an inhomogeneous medium with anelectronic permittivity that is bothspatially and frequency dependent making ita complex system to model.A three-layer system of parallel-sidedslabs has been used as the system throughwhich the passage of THz radiation has beensimulated. Two modelling approaches havebeen developed a thin film matrix model anda Monte Carlo model. The source data foreach of these methods, taken at the sametime as the data recorded to experimentallyverify them, was a THz spectrum that hadpassed though air only.Experimental verification of these twomodels was carried out using athree-layered in vitro phantom. Simulatedtransmission spectrum data was compared toexperimental transmission spectrum datafirst to determine and then to compare theaccuracy of the two methods. Goodagreement was found, with typical resultshaving a correlation coefficient of 0.90for the thin film matrix model and 0.78 forthe Monte Carlo model over the full THzspectrum. Further work is underway toimprove the models above 1 THz.

Computational aspects of harmonic wavelet Galerkin methods and an application to a precipitation front propagation model

This article is dedicated to harmonic wavelet Galerkin methods for the solution of partial differential equations. Several variants of the method are proposed and analyzed, using the Burgers equation as a test model. The computational complexity can be reduced when the localization properties of the wavelets and restricted interactions between different scales are exploited. The resulting variants of the method have computational complexities ranging from O(N(3)) to O(N) (N being the space dimension) per time step. A pseudo-spectral wavelet scheme is also described and compared to the methods based on connection coefficients. The harmonic wavelet Galerkin scheme is applied to a nonlinear model for the propagation of precipitation fronts, with the front locations being exposed in the sizes of the localized wavelet coefficients. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.