Seed-placed phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) fertilizers can reduce canola plant stands. Field studies were conducted to determine the effect of various sources and rates of seed-placed P and S fertilizers on canola plant stand, early season biomass accumulation and seed yield. Conventional granular P and S blends increased the risk of seedling damage, but increased the frequency of yield response. Liquid fertilizers were similar in seedling damage but generally less effective in increasing seed yield compared to granular fertilizers. Novel fertilizers were more seed-safe but less reliable than conventional sources in increasing seed yield. A growth room experiment was conducted to determine the effect of soils from different landscape positions on the toxicity of seed-placed ammonium sulphate (AS) and monoammonium phosphate (MAP). Canola emergence was reduced and delayed by seed-placed MAP and AS. Ammonium sulphate in particular has a high risk of NH3 toxicity on calcareous hilltop soils

Seed-placed phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) fertilizers can reduce canola plant stands. Field studies were conducted to determine the effect of various sources and rates of seed-placed P and S fertilizers on canola plant stand, early season biomass accumulation and seed yield. Conventional granular P and S blends increased the risk of seedling damage, but increased the frequency of yield response. Liquid fertilizers were similar in seedling damage but generally less effective in increasing seed yield compared to granular fertilizers. Novel fertilizers were more seed-safe but less reliable than conventional sources in increasing seed yield. A growth room experiment was conducted to determine the effect of soils from different landscape positions on the toxicity of seed-placed ammonium sulphate (AS) and monoammonium phosphate (MAP). Canola emergence was reduced and delayed by seed-placed MAP and AS. Ammonium sulphate in particular has a high risk of NH3 toxicity on calcareous hilltop soils

Mass tourism being on the agenda of world tourism industry since post war period, has been facing stagnation with late 80&rsquo / s. Additionally consumer&rsquo / s preferences and tendencies towards seeking new activities regardless of sea-sun-sand type of tourism have been started to change. Therefore popular tourist destinations are in a position where to develop alternative tourist activities to sustain their market shares in world tourism market. In compliance with this trend, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze the need and the reason of Turkish Tourism Industry moving away from concentrating merely on mass tourism and accordingly to evaluate the efforts of Turkish tourism authorities in diversifying tourism activities and extending the tourist season to year round with reference to Tourism Development Regions, Amendment of Tourism Encouragement Law, etc. Additionally the importance of focusing on cultural, historical, traditional identity and unique assets of Turkey in order to sustain its ranking in the international tourism market is stressed.

In 2007, U.S. Congress created the "Energy Independence and Security Act" with primary goals focused on increasing the knowledge in production of renewable fuels, increasing the percentages of renewable fuels in the transportation sector and decreasing the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel sources. To achieve these goals, many species have been pointed as sources of feedstock for the biofuel industry. Photoperiod sensitive (PS) biomass sorghum for the lignocellusosic based conversion is one. In this study, three main objectives were addressed regarding the relative performance for biomass yield and biomass composition of PS biomass sorghum. First, genetic and environmental variation effects on the biomass yield and biomass composition, and usefulness of pre-classification of genotypes by biomass lignin content were evaluated. On the set of genotypes and locations tested, the environmental effect had the largest influence on the biomass composition, yield and its components. Although smaller, the genetic variation effect was significant for most of the traits, some traits had significant genotype by environment GXE interaction. The pre-classification of genotypes according to lignin content proved to be an efficient system of separating genotypes as groups, but failed to be efficient in separating on the entries bases. Assessment of growth patterns for biomass yield and composition, characterized photoperiod sensitive sorghum as capable of producing a harvestable crop as soon as 4 months, but variations in the concentration of constituents and moisture percentage, pointed to a harvest window that can be extended up to the 7th month after planting. Genetic variation was observed in this trail for most agronomic and composition traits, but a strong environmental effect was also observed. Lastly, the influence of three diverse cytoplasm male sterility (CMS) systems in biomass sorghum hybrids was assessed. The presence of A1, A2 or A3 CMS in the hybrids tested in this study had no influence on the biomass yield performance or in the biomass composition. Therefore, any of the CMS systems can be used in the production of biomass sorghum hybrid seed. Also, in this trial the environmental effects were significant and strong for most traits evaluated.

A series of eight experiments was conducted to investigate the requirement for thyroid hormones in neuroendocrine processes which lead to the seasonally anoestrous state in red deer hinds. The first two experiments used thyroidectomized, ovariectomized, oestradiol-treated hinds which received various thyroid hormone replacement treatments (n=5 per group) to investigate the timing and dose-responsiveness of thyroid hormones in bringing about seasonal oestradiol-induced suppression of plasma LH concentration. A significant seasonal decline in mean plasma LH concentration during September (coinciding with the onset of anoestrus in entire cycling hinds in New Zealand) was observed in all thyroidectomized hinds in both experiments regardless of T₄ or T₃ treatment. When oestradiol implants were removed in November or December, mean plasma LH concentrations increased significantly in all but one of hinds in which T₄ had been administered at very low doses by subcutaneous implants, and mean plasma LH concentrations and LH pulse amplitude increased in approximately half of hinds administered T₃ at varying doses by subcutaneous injections over a one-week period in October. These results suggested that thyroid hormones are not required for steroid-dependent reproductive suppression, but could possibly play a role in steroid-independent suppression of LH secretion. Because problems were encountered in delivering appropriate doses of thyroid hormones in both experiments, further confirmation of these findings was required. Therefore in the next experiment the role of thyroid gland secretions was examined in euthyroid (n=5) and thyroidectomized (n=4) ovariectomized hinds treated with oestradiol implants. These implants were removed for about one month on three occasions to examine the effect of thyroidectomy on steroid-independent control of seasonal LH secretion. During the non-breeding season basal and GnRH-induced plasma LH concentrations declined in all hinds in the presence of oestradiol, but returned to breeding season levels when oestradiol was withdrawn in November. In a concurrent experiment, thyroidectomy of ovary-entire hinds (n=7) during the breeding season prevented the cessation of oestrous cyclicity in spring; this was in contrast to oestrous cyclicity in T₄replaced (n=4) or euthyroid control (n=5) hinds which ceased to occur in early September. Collectively, these results indicate that thyroid hormones are required for the termination of the breeding season in cycling red deer hinds and that this action occurs via steroid-independent neuroendocrine pathways. Two experiments were conducted using neurotransmitter receptor agonists and antagonists to identify neural pathways in the brain which mediate LH suppression by oestradiol and by steroid-independent mechanisms, and to test if the thyroid gland is required for activation of these pathways during the non-breeding season. It was concluded from the lack of plasma LH responses to dopaminergic and opioidergic agonists and antagonists in ovariectomized and ovariectomized, thyroidectomized hinds (n=5) that neural pathways involving dopamine-D₂receptors do not mediate oestradiol-induced seasonal suppression of plasma LH concentrations, and neither dopaminergic or opioid neural pathways mediate non-steroidal suppression of plasma LH concentrations. However preliminary evidence was obtained for a stimulatory role of serotonergic neural pathways in controlling LH secretion. Another experiment was conducted to identify when the steroid-independent mechanisms which suppress LH concentrations during the non-breeding season are responsive to thyroid hormones. T₄treatment at the beginning of or during the non breeding season was effective in bringing about suppression of plasma LH concentration in thyroidectomized, ovariectomized hinds (n=5 per group), but this action of thyroid hormones did not occur during the breeding season. These results show that the steroid-independent mechanisms which contribute to seasonal suppression of plasma gonadotrophin concentrations require thyroid hormones to be present only from around the time of the end of the breeding season for their normal expression, and they remain responsive to thyroid hormones after this period. Lastly, the feasibility of achieving out-of-season breeding using thyroidectomized hinds (n=9) was evaluated by comparing oestrous behaviour, ovulation and pregnancy rates to those of euthyroid control hinds (n=7) following synchronization of oestrous cycles. There was a non-significant trend for a greater occurrence of oestrous behaviour and ovulation in thyroidectomized hinds compared with euthyroid controls during the non-breeding season, but the pregnancy rate following out-of season mating with a thyroidectomized stag was low, suggesting that a side effect of thyroidectomy may be impaired fertility. Six out-of-season pregnancies were obtained from eight matings, however because three of these pregnancies occurred in euthyroid control hinds no improvement in out-of-season reproductive performance could be attributed to thyroidectomy. It is likely that if the actions of the thyroid glands are to be exploited as a tool for achieving out-of-season breeding in this species, techniques will have to be developed for specifically blocking or overcoming the effects of thyroid hormones on the reproductive neuroendocrine centres without causing general hypothyroidism and its associated side-effects.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The objective of this study was to determine dairy cattle preference amongst four species of cool-season forage grasses: eight orchardgrasses (Dactylis glomerata L.), five tall fescues [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.], five perennial ryegrasses (Lolium perenne L.), and six festuloliums [xFestulolium braunii (K. Richt.) A. Camus.]; 24 cultivars in total. Each grazing trial utilized four Holstein-Friesian heifers over six hours. Maturity differences were eliminated by having animals graze only vegetative material. After six grazing trials (three each in 2014 and 2015), consistent results in animal preference were not found; three of the six trials did show preference (P

The main objective of this thesis was to assess food intake by bream, depending on the onset and end of spawning period. To meet the objectives of a practical experiment was carried out. This experiment was run on the dams Hamry and Brno in the years 2008 and 2009. Subsequently it was determined by standard methods. These methods (indirect, food frequency, filling index, index of superiority and gonadosomatic index. Subsequently, an analysis of stomach.

Dental cementum is a mineralized tissue that coats the root of a tooth and anchors it into the alveolar socket via the periodontal ligament. Cementum is continuously deposited and mineralized throughout the life of a tooth, preserving the complex developmental processes of root formation in optically distinct histologic layers (Hillson, 1996; 2005). Analysis of these features has several anthropological applications, specifically the analysis of cementum increments and their utility in estimating age and season at death in humans for establishing a more specific post-mortem interval (PMI). Wedel (2007) conducted a pilot study to determine whether dental cementum increment analysis can be used to establish season of death in humans. Wedel (2007) hypothesized that by identifying the timing of the transition between the bands of arrested development and the bands of increased deposition, dental cementum increment analysis can be used to identify the season at death in humans. It was demonstrated that cementum increment analysis is 99% accurate in estimating whether an individual died in either a fall/winter or spring/summer season. The purpose of the present study was to estimate whether cementum bands could accurately be assigned to fall/winter, spring/summer seasons based on their optical properties as being light or dark. A total of 143 teeth of known age and known extraction date drawn from the Boston University Collection and the Antioquia Modern Skeletal Reference Collection in Medellín, Colombia were analyzed using recent protocols for preparation, sectioning, and observing increment lines in cementum. Dental cementum increment analysis was found to be between 61.54% and 71.15% successful in accurately correlating the nature of the last cementum increment to season at death using a combination of image evaluation and through focus evaluation methods on two distinct geographic samples. A through focus evaluation was found to be more successful at identifying the last band formed and is recommended for microscopic analyses estimating season at death using dental cementum increments. Geographic origin did not have a significant influence over the accuracy of the method to estimate season at death, however the results of this study suggest that teeth extracted from cadavers versus living individuals may have some influence on the accuracy of cementum increments to estimate season at death. No significant influence of sex, age, or tooth type on the identification and correlation of the last band formed were detected in this study. An interobserver analysis using digital images of a randomly selected sample of 45 sections found that interobserver agreement on the nature of the last band formed occurred in only 28.8% of the sample. Inconsistencies in the nature of the last band formed between multiple sections prepared from the same tooth were observed, which calls into question the validity of using cementum increments to estimate season at death. The potential limitations for the reliability of using dental cementum increment analysis to determine season at death in humans include the lack of a standardized method for preparing adequate sections for viewing cementum increments, and the subjectivity of identifying the last band in a given section. It is concluded that if the validity and reliability of dental cementum increment analysis as a method for age estimation can be established and configured to meet the criteria of the Daubert Standard, specifically in the adoption of a standardized protocol of analysis, then the validity of using this method for estimating season at death can be further considered.

Orientador: Christiane Pienna Soares / Banca: Mary Rosa Rodrigues de Marchi / Banca: Eliana Aparecida Varanda / Resumo: A combustão incompleta da biomassa de cana-de-açúcar gera compostos orgânicos ricos em hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos, os quais são os mais importantes poluentes mutagênicos e carcinogênicos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a citotoxicidade e a apoptose induzida pelos compostos orgânicos de partículas em suspensão na atmosfera durante as estações de safra e entressafra de cana-de-açúcar. A citotoxicidade celular na linhagem celular A549 foi determinada usando o ensaio de MTT; e a morte celular (apoptose e necrose) foi analisada usando os corantes Hoechst 33342 por microscopia de epifluorescência e AnexinaV FITC/ iodeto de propídeo por citometria de fluxo. De acordo com o teste de citotoxicidade, foi observada uma curva dose-resposta, demonstrando maior citotoxicidade induzida por extratos orgânicos extraídos durante a estação de safra. Ambos os ensaios de coloração Anexina V e Hoechst 33342 demonstraram alta porcentagem de mortes celulares por apoptose em ambos os períodos (safra e entressafra) (p<0,0001). No tratamento com partículas totais em suspensão, uma maior porcentagem de mortes celulares induzidas por apoptose precoce foi observada. Além disso uma viabilidade celular maior foi encontrada durante a entressafra nos ensaios de Anexina V e Hoechst 33342 (p<0,001). Nossos resultados indicam que os extratos orgânicos obtidos do particulado total em suspensão demonstram um importante efeito tóxico celular induzindo apoptose precoce... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The incomplete combustion of sugar cane biomass generates organic compounds rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are the most important mutagenic and carcinogenic pollutants. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the citotoxicity and apoptosis induced by the organic extracts of suspended particles from sugar cane harvesting and non-harvesting seasons. The cellular cytotoxicity to A549 cell line was determined using the MTT assay and the cell death (apoptosis and necrosis) was analyzed using the dyes Hoechst 33342 by epifluorescence microscopy and Annexin VFITC/ propidium iodide by flow cytometry. According to the cytotoxicity test, it was observed a dose-response curve, demonstrating a higher cytotoxicity induced by the organic extract from the harvesting season. Both staining assays Annexin V and Hoechst 33342 demonstrated a high percentage of cell death by apoptosis in both harvesting and non-harvesting seasons (p<0.0001). However, the extracts isolated during the harvest induce more apoptosis than the non-harvest season. In the treatment with total suspended particle, a higher percentage of cell deaths induced by early apoptosis in harvesting and non-harvesting seasons were observed. Moreover, a higher cellular viability was found in non-harvesting, in Annexin V and Hoechst 33342 assays, (p<0.001). Our results indicate that the organic extracts isolated from total suspended particulate demonstrate an important toxic effect in cell, inducing early apoptosis in harvesting and non-harvesting season. / Mestre