Survival and growth of two oak species, live oak (Quercus virginiana) and Nuttall oak (Quercus texana), and three planting stocks: 1-0 bareroot, conventional containerized, and Root Production Method (RPM™) seedlings were compared. Conventional containerized live oak and bareroot Nuttall oak seedlings exhibited greatest survival. RPM™ seedlings exhibited the lowest survival in both species. Conventional containerized seedlings exhibited greater groundline diameter (GLD) growth and twice as much height growth as bareroot seedlings during the first year. During the second year, conventional containerized seedlings exhibited greater GLD growth than bareroot seedlings in live oak, but in Nuttall oak, bareroot seedlings exhibited greater GLD growth. RPM™ seedlings exhibited similar GLD growth compared to bareroot seedlings during both years but the least height growth of all planting stocks, regardless of species. Height growth of bareroot and conventional containerized seedlings was similar after two years.

A study was established to evaluate underplanting as a method of reestablishing shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina. Replicated treatment plots were harvested to retain 0, 15, 30, or 45 square feet of basal area per acre. Bareroot and containerized stock with small and large plugs were established within the treatment plots. Large plug seedlings achieved the highest first year survival followed by the small plug and bareroot seedlings. Underplanted seedling growth was inversely related to residual overstory density after two growing seasons. Large plug seedlings achieved the greatest height and diameter growth, followed by the small plug and bareroot seedlings. The results of this study suggest that underplanting may be a suitable regeneration option for the initial establishment of shortleaf pine on Piedmont sites. Further improvements in seedling survival and growth may be realized by planting containerized seedlings with large plugs.

Bareroot and containerized loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) were planted in December 2016 and February 2017 to compare performance across four sites in South Carolina and Georgia. Main treatments analyzed for growth differences were stocktype, genetics, and planting date. Analysis of variance results showed significant growth differences after two growing seasons for containerized over bareroot seedlings, for control-pollinated seedlings over open-pollinated and varietal seedlings, and for December-planted seedlings over February-planted seedlings. Control–pollinated seedlings demonstrated the most incremental growth between ages one and two. Site conditions dictated seedling survival to a certain degree, and bareroot seedling growth was slightly better than containerized on the least stressful site. Results uncover important trends for main effects of stocktype, genetics, and planting date, but also underscore the importance for land managers to avoid blanket reforestation prescriptions, with more emphasis placed on site-specific conditions.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is a required mineral nutrient in containerized crop production that is necessary for crop growth and development. Due to production aspects, the N added to crops far exceeds the amount that the plant uses and such inefficiency results in adverse environmental impacts related to N gaseous and aqueous emissions from containers on the production site. Growers are responsible for optimizing nutrient usage in crop production. Three studies were conducted to investigate and better understand the fate of applied N fertilizers, the transformations associated with individual N sources, and the influence of substrate texture on losses of aqueous and gaseous N species. The first study conducted a mass balance looking at the four major avenues of N fate in an open-air container production setting (plant uptake, immobilized or bound N in a pine bark substrate, leached aqueous N, and gaseous emissions of N), the mass balance was speciated to measure applied and intermediary forms of N fertilizer species to provide insight into the overall fate of applied N. Show Off® Forsythia ×intermedia' Mindor' were grown using two control-release fertilizer (CRF) treatments [AN (ammonium-nitrate based) or UAN (urea ammonium-nitrate)] products. This study determined that 97% of the released N from the CRF treatments was lost via aqueous or gaseous pathways. The aqueous losses were inferred to be predominately composed of NO3-N, while the gaseous emissions were inferred to be predominately lost as inert nitrogen gas (N2). During a second experiment, individual N sources treatments [urea (CH4N2O), ammonium (NH4+), and nitrate (NO3-)] were applied to established containers of At LastⓇ Rosa x 'HORCOGJIL' grown in a pine bark substrate in either open wall high tunnel or a glass greenhouse to determine subsequent reaction sequence and fate based on applied N source. By applying an individual form of N it was determined that based on the N source applied, a sequential set of reactions occurs based on the N source. This study determined that the reactive N gaseous species occurred from the hydrolysis of CH4N2O-N to NH4+ and the nitrification of NH4+ to NO3- and then the denitrification of NO3- to N2. Hibiscus moscheutos' Vintage wine' was grown in either a coarse or fine texture substrate utilizing either a water-soluble fertilizer or a CRF to compare the influence of pine bark texture on N leachate losses and RN gaseous emissions. There were few differences between the two substrate texture treatments related to aqueous or gaseous N losses. In both experiments, the Hibiscus grown in the fine texture substrate resulted in higher above and below-ground biomass at experimental termination. Working with growers to develop best management practices will help to improve the use of N fertilizers and impact growers economically, while simultaneously reducing losses leading to less environmental impact on the areas surrounding production sites. / Doctor of Philosophy / Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is a crucial mineral nutrient input to produce container crops, however excessive application can have detrimental effects on the environment including gaseous N emissions and N leaching leading to water pollution. Therefore, three studies were conducted to investigate N losses during production and potential mitigation strategies using common management practices in the production of container crops. During the first study investigating how N fertilizer is lost from production, results showed that a significant portion of the N added to the containers is either emitted from the containers into the atmosphere or leached from the container. Only a small fraction of the applied N was utilized by the plants for growth and development. The second study investigated the reactions and transformations of different N fertilizers sources. When applying single N sources urea (CH4N2O), ammonium (NH4+), or nitrate (NO3-) result in a set of sequential reactions that occur based on the applied N source. Urea is hydrolyzed via CH4N2O hydrolysis leading to the formation of NH4+ which is nitrified via nitrification to NO3- which is denitrified via denitrification leading to the production of N2 gas. In the final study two pine bark substrate classes were compared when using either a water-soluble fertilizer (WSF) or a controlled-release fertilizer (CRF). Surprisingly there were only a few differences between the two substrate treatments in either the WSF or CRF studies. This body of work show the importance of investigating N fertilizer usage in container crop production. Collaboration between researchers and growers is crucial to develop management practices that maximize the associated economic input of N fertilizers and minimize losses of N that are detrimental to the environment.

A ineficiente gestão e aplicação dos procedimentos de fronteira às cargas conteinerizadas culminam com maiores tempos para importar ou exportar por via marítima e, por consequência, com maiores custos. Além de prejudicar as cadeias globais de suprimentos, que abastecem indústrias instaladas no país e atendem à população, ocasionam lentidão nas operações portuárias, inviabilizando o estabelecimento ou o fomento de maiores trocas comerciais internacionais. Como resultado, dirime-se a competitividade do comércio exterior brasileiro e criam-se interferências no desempenho econômico do país. Dentro deste contexto, foi realizada esta pesquisa para identificar os principais pontos críticos no modelo de gestão dos procedimentos de fronteira aplicáveis às cargas conteinerizadas em trânsito internacional pelos portos marítimos, com foco nas operações do Porto de Santos. A descrição dos procedimentos foi realizada de forma sistêmica e estruturada, abordando os trâmites operacionais e burocráticos incindíveis às cargas conteinerizadas quando no Porto de Santos ou em algum recinto alfandegado externo a ele, que inclui os CLIAs ou as EADIs. Foram identificados os principais intervenientes, documentos, taxas e sistemas de informação utilizados nas operações. Evidenciaram-se seis pontos críticos nos processos descritos: (1) Fluxo burocrático altamente dependente do fluxo físico da carga, e vice-versa; (2) Falta de coordenação operacional entre intervenientes; (3) Ocorrência de fiscalizações físicas em multiplicidade, em excesso e com extensos prazos; (4) Incompatibilidade do número de fiscais com a demanda fiscalizatória no Porto de Santos; (5) Existência de múltiplos sistemas de informação parcialmente integrados; (6) Dificuldade operacional para atualização e modificação das informações registradas nos sistemas de informação. Concluiu-se que os pontos críticos possuem complexa inter-relação, onde o primeiro deles é o fundamental e que reflete nos demais; assim, sua resolução traria significantes avanços para a gestão dos procedimentos no Porto de Santos, pois também reduziria a influência dos demais nos processos; pontos críticos 2, 3 e 5 apresentaram forte correlação e os pontos críticos 4 e 6 demonstraram exercer influências pontuais no problema de retenção das cargas. / The inefficient management and application of border procedures in containerized cargo culminate with longer times to import or export by ports and, consequently, higher costs. Besides undermining the global supply chains from industries installed in Brazil that serve the local population, cause delays in port operations, preventing the establishment or promotion of greater international trade. As a result, invalidates the competitiveness of Brazilian foreign trade and interferes in the country\'s economic performance. Within this context, this research was conducted to identify key critical points in the management model of border procedures applicable to containerized cargo in international transit through maritime ports, focusing on the operations of the Port of Santos. The description of the procedures were conducted in a systemic and structured way, addressing the operational and bureaucratic procedures applicable to containerized cargo at the Port of Santos or in a customs terminal external to it, including CLIAs or EADIs. Were identified key stakeholders, documents, fees and information systems used in operations. Were identified six critical points in the processes described: (1) Bureaucratic flow highly dependent on the physical flow of cargo and viceversa; (2) Lack of operational coordination between stakeholders; (3) Occurrence of physical inspections in multiplicity, in excess and with extended periods; (4) Incompatibility between number of inspection agents with the inspection demand in Port of Santos; (5) Existence of multiple information systems partially integrated; (6) Difficulty to update or modificate recorded information in information systems. It was concluded that the critical points have complex inter-relationship, in which the first one is the key and reflects in the others, so its resolution would bring significant advances in the border management of the Port of Santos, as would also reduce the impact of the other critical points in the processes; critical points 2, 3 and 5 have presented complex correlation and critical points 4 and 6 have shown punctual influence in the cargo retention problem.

Revised; Originally Published: 2000 / 8 pp. / Whether you are beginning a new landscape or renovating an existing one, planning ahead can prevent many problems. The majority of maintenance requirements and plant problems result from either selecting the wrong kind of plant for a location or planting an inferior specimen of the selected plant type. In other words, there are two decisions to be made: ▪ What species, or kind, of tree are you going to buy — an oak, pine, mesquite, or acacia? ▪ Assuming you decide on an oak, which one in the row of oaks at the nursery are you going to buy? The first decision is called Plant Selection and the second is Selecting Plants. Our goal is to install the right plant in the right place. This publication will cover the factors involved in making good decisions to achieve this goal.

A ineficiente gestão e aplicação dos procedimentos de fronteira às cargas conteinerizadas culminam com maiores tempos para importar ou exportar por via marítima e, por consequência, com maiores custos. Além de prejudicar as cadeias globais de suprimentos, que abastecem indústrias instaladas no país e atendem à população, ocasionam lentidão nas operações portuárias, inviabilizando o estabelecimento ou o fomento de maiores trocas comerciais internacionais. Como resultado, dirime-se a competitividade do comércio exterior brasileiro e criam-se interferências no desempenho econômico do país. Dentro deste contexto, foi realizada esta pesquisa para identificar os principais pontos críticos no modelo de gestão dos procedimentos de fronteira aplicáveis às cargas conteinerizadas em trânsito internacional pelos portos marítimos, com foco nas operações do Porto de Santos. A descrição dos procedimentos foi realizada de forma sistêmica e estruturada, abordando os trâmites operacionais e burocráticos incindíveis às cargas conteinerizadas quando no Porto de Santos ou em algum recinto alfandegado externo a ele, que inclui os CLIAs ou as EADIs. Foram identificados os principais intervenientes, documentos, taxas e sistemas de informação utilizados nas operações. Evidenciaram-se seis pontos críticos nos processos descritos: (1) Fluxo burocrático altamente dependente do fluxo físico da carga, e vice-versa; (2) Falta de coordenação operacional entre intervenientes; (3) Ocorrência de fiscalizações físicas em multiplicidade, em excesso e com extensos prazos; (4) Incompatibilidade do número de fiscais com a demanda fiscalizatória no Porto de Santos; (5) Existência de múltiplos sistemas de informação parcialmente integrados; (6) Dificuldade operacional para atualização e modificação das informações registradas nos sistemas de informação. Concluiu-se que os pontos críticos possuem complexa inter-relação, onde o primeiro deles é o fundamental e que reflete nos demais; assim, sua resolução traria significantes avanços para a gestão dos procedimentos no Porto de Santos, pois também reduziria a influência dos demais nos processos; pontos críticos 2, 3 e 5 apresentaram forte correlação e os pontos críticos 4 e 6 demonstraram exercer influências pontuais no problema de retenção das cargas. / The inefficient management and application of border procedures in containerized cargo culminate with longer times to import or export by ports and, consequently, higher costs. Besides undermining the global supply chains from industries installed in Brazil that serve the local population, cause delays in port operations, preventing the establishment or promotion of greater international trade. As a result, invalidates the competitiveness of Brazilian foreign trade and interferes in the country\'s economic performance. Within this context, this research was conducted to identify key critical points in the management model of border procedures applicable to containerized cargo in international transit through maritime ports, focusing on the operations of the Port of Santos. The description of the procedures were conducted in a systemic and structured way, addressing the operational and bureaucratic procedures applicable to containerized cargo at the Port of Santos or in a customs terminal external to it, including CLIAs or EADIs. Were identified key stakeholders, documents, fees and information systems used in operations. Were identified six critical points in the processes described: (1) Bureaucratic flow highly dependent on the physical flow of cargo and viceversa; (2) Lack of operational coordination between stakeholders; (3) Occurrence of physical inspections in multiplicity, in excess and with extended periods; (4) Incompatibility between number of inspection agents with the inspection demand in Port of Santos; (5) Existence of multiple information systems partially integrated; (6) Difficulty to update or modificate recorded information in information systems. It was concluded that the critical points have complex inter-relationship, in which the first one is the key and reflects in the others, so its resolution would bring significant advances in the border management of the Port of Santos, as would also reduce the impact of the other critical points in the processes; critical points 2, 3 and 5 have presented complex correlation and critical points 4 and 6 have shown punctual influence in the cargo retention problem.

Background: Nowadays lot of companies are enjoying the benefits of kubernetes by maintaining their containerized applications over it. AWS is one of the leading cloud computing service providers and many well-known companies are their clients. Many researches have been conducted on kubernetes, docker containers, cloud computing platforms but a confusion exists on how to deploy the applications in Kubernetes. A research gap about the impact created by CPU limits and requests while deploying the Kubernetes application can be found. So, through this thesis I want to analyze the performance of the CPU intensive containerized application. It will help many companies avoid the confusion while deploying their applications over kubernetes. Objectives: We measure the scalability of kubernetes under CPU intensive containerized application running over AWS and we can study the impact created by changing CPU limits and requests while deploying the application in Kubernetes. Methods: we choose a blend of literature study and experimentation as methods to conduct the research. Results and Conclusion: From the experiments it is evident that the application performs better when we allocate more CPU limits and less CPU requests when compared to equal CPU requests and CPU limits in the deployment file. CPU metrics collected from SAR and Kubernetes metrics server are similar. It is better to allocate pods with more CPU limits and CPU requests than with equal CPU requests and CPU limits for better performance. Keywords: Kubernetes, CPU intensive containerized application, AWS, Stress-ng.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 damaging 1.2 billion cubic meters of timber including 48 million cubic meters of hardwood. An economically efficient method of artificial oak regeneration is necessary in many areas to restore this high value resource. Bareroot, conventional containerized, and EKOgrown® seedlings of Quercus shumardii and Q. texana were planted on two sites in south Mississippi. Growth and survival were evaluated for two years. Survival was assessed monthly and at the end of each growing season. Height and groundline diameter were assessed initially after planting and the end of each growing season. After two growing seasons, Q. Nuttallii exhibited superior performance generally when compared to Q. Shumardii. Conventional containerized had poor survival and initial growth likely caused by freeze damage in the nursery. EKOgrown® seedlings performed better than other planting stocks, however, high seedling cost makes them less cost-effective than bareroot seedlings which exhibited acceptable performance overall.

Hurricane Katrina had a devastating impact on bottomland hardwood forests in 2005 resulting in damage to nearly 1.2 billion cubic meters of timber. Following such a natural disaster, natural regeneration is typically not a viable option because the seed source has been destroyed on site. Therefore, an economically efficient method of artificial regeneration is considered the most appropriate technique for reforesting these damaged areas. However, few studies have evaluated comparative research that examined early survival and growth performance of various oak species and stock types in such planting settings. This project was implemented in an effort to expand upon what is already known from previous artificial regeneration attempts on Hurricane Katrina damaged lands. Bareroot, conventional containerized, and large potted EKOgrownTM seedlings of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) and willow oak (Quercus phellos L.) were planted on two sites located in south Mississippi. Survival was assessed monthly and at the end of each growing season, whereas height and groundline diameter (GLD) were measured immediately post planting and at the end of each growing season. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons procedure (MCP), where appropriate, were performed to determine any significant differences. After the first growing season, cherrybark oak did not exhibit a substantial difference regarding survival performance when compared to willow oak (75.5 percent and 76.5 percent, respectively). After two growing seasons, willow oak exhibited considerably greater survival (74.0 percent) overall when compared to cherrybark oak (70.5 percent). Bareroot seedlings had the highest survival (87.2 percent). Conventional containerized seedlings had unacceptable survival (47.5 percent) and EKOgrownTM seedlings had acceptable survival (82.0 percent). EKOgrownTM seedlings demonstrated the best overall GLD growth of all planting stocks (3.9 mm respectively). Bareroot seedlings had the second best overall GLD growth (1.5 mm) and conventional containerized had the least amount of overall GLD growth (0.8 mm). Overall height growth when comparing all three planting stocks bareroot, conventional containerized, and EKOgrownTM were similar to one another (-3.5cm, -0.8cm, and -3.6cm respectively). Therefore, based on an overall consideration of cost and performance, bareroot seedlings are considered the most effective option of the two species considered for artificial regeneration utilized in this study.