Evaluating Responses of Sugar Beet Cultivars to Fusarium Species in Greenhouse and Field Conditions

Fusarium yellows of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is becoming an important disease in Minnesota and North Dakota in the United States. One of the best ways to manage Fusarium yellows is to develop and use resistant cultivars. Responses of eight sugar beet cultivars to three Fusarium species were determined in the greenhouse and compared to the responses of the same eight cultivars grown in a field already infected by Fusarium yellows. There were significant and appreciable relationships between greenhouse and field studies for responses of eight sugar beet cultivars on Fusarium yellows. The estimated correlation coefficient for area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) between observations in fields and those in greenhouses was 0.987 (p<0.01). The mean AUDPC were significantly different among cultivars (p<0.01) in the greenhouse and in the field studies. Of the cultivars, Van der Have 46177 was the most susceptible, but Crystal R434 the most resistant. Crystal 820, Van der Have 66561, and Beta 4797R were resistant, and Beta 4818R, Seedex Magnum, and Hilleshog 2463Rz were moderately resistant. There was a strong negative relationship between the AUDPC and recoverable sucrose yield in the field experiments and the estimated coefficient of determination was 0.939 (p<0.01). It was concluded that greenhouse screening can act as a useful and reliable means to evaluate and select beet germplasms and/or accessions for resistance to Fusarium yellows.Peer reviewe

Give Iowa Trees Due Credit

Iowa is too often thought of by persons Outside the State only as a flat open prairie. Even the Iowa citizens have rarely stopped to sum up the large value of Iowa trees. The attitude that all forest land is worthless can be understood for the man who alone cleared his first small fields from virgin hardwood timber, or assisted his neighbors in log rolling bees to rid the land in what ever manner they might of trees. Today however it is different, and Iowa trees are not to be discredited

Gaining and sustaining schistosomiasis control: study protocol and baseline data prior to different treatment strategies in five African countries

The Schistosomiasis Consortium for Operational Research and Evaluation (SCORE) was established in 2008 to answer strategic questions about schistosomiasis control. For programme managers, a high-priority question is: what are the most cost-effective strategies for delivering preventive chemotherapy (PCT) with praziquantel (PZQ)? This paper describes the process SCORE used to transform this question into a harmonized research protocol, the study design for answering this question, the village eligibility assessments and data resulting from the first year of the study.; Beginning in 2009, SCORE held a series of meetings to specify empirical questions and design studies related to different schedules of PCT for schistosomiasis control in communities with high (gaining control studies) and moderate (sustaining control studies) prevalence of Schistosoma infection among school-aged children. Seven studies are currently being implemented in five African countries. During the first year, villages were screened for eligibility, and data were collected on prevalence and intensity of infection prior to randomisation and the implementation of different schemes of PZQ intervention strategies.; These studies of different treatment schedules with PZQ will provide the most comprehensive data thus far on the optimal frequency and continuity of PCT for schistosomiasis infection and morbidity control.; We expect that the study outcomes will provide data for decision-making for country programme managers and a rich resource of information to the schistosomiasis research community.; The trials are registered at International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial registry (identifiers: ISRCTN99401114 , ISRCTN14849830 , ISRCTN16755535 , ISRCTN14117624 , ISRCTN95819193 and ISRCTN32045736 )

A Business Case Analysis Of The Snowboarding Industry

This manuscript presents a business case analysis of the snowboarding industry. The demographic trends for both skiers and snowboarders are presented to illustrate the significant differences between the two. In addition, the historical growth of the industry is compared to that of the ski industry. Finally teaching notes offer suggestions as to how this case can be used in class to illustrate certain marketing and business principles

Seasonal Consumptive Demand and Prey Use by Stocked Saugeyes in Ohio Reservoirs

Community structure and species composition may be strongly influenced by predator-prey interactions resulting from and leading to episodes of population abundance or scarcity. We quantified diets of stocked saugeyes (female walleye Sander vitreus × male sauger S. canadensis) and estimated biomass of their primary prey, gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, in three Ohio reservoirs at quarterly intervals during July 2002-July 2003 to determine whether saugeye consumptive demand could exceed the supply of available gizzard shad prey, resulting in a shift to alternative prey. We incorporated water temperature and saugeye diet composition, growth, and mortality into walleye bioenergetics models, which allowed us to compare estimated prey-specific consumption rates by saugeyes with gizzard shad standing stocks estimated with acoustics. Spring and summer were critical seasons. During spring, gizzard shad biomass was low, saugeye consumptive demand was low, and saugeyes consumed primarily alternative prey. During summer, when age-0 gizzard shad became available as prey, saugeyes consumed similar proportions of gizzard shad and alternative prey. Saugeye cumulative consumptive demand in summer was high and approached the gizzard shad standing stock. However, during fall and winter, gizzard shad supply was adequate to support high (fall) or declining (winter) saugeye consumptive demand. Across reservoirs and seasons, saugeyes consumed alternative prey to varying degrees, primarily sunfishes Lepomis spp., yellow perch Perca flavescens, logperch Percina caprodes, and minnows Pimephales spp. Seasonal asynchrony between saugeye consumptive demand and gizzard shad biomass during spring and summer indicated that a saugeye population with high survival, growth, and consumptive demand will opportunistically increase use of prey other than gizzard shad. The manner in which saugeye predation quantitatively influences these prey species could not be assessed. However, overexploitation of gizzard shad prey appears to be unlikely at current saugeye population sizes, particularly considering the opportunistic use of alternative prey and the high reproductive potential of gizzard shad.Funding for this research was provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife; Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project F-69-P, Fish Management in Ohio; and the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University

Integrating Organic Soybean Production on Land Formerly in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

Objectives of this research and education program included an examination of tillage and weed management operations for organic farming on CRP land. In 1999, an experiment was initiated at the ISU McNay Research and Demonstration Farm at Chariton, Iowa, to evaluate the effect of four tillage methods for organic soybean production on land formerly in CRP. After demonstrating the success of organic soybeans on CRP land in 1999 (average yield–49.3 bushels/acre), an expansion of this experiment was initiated in 2000 as a longer term study to examine crop rotations and weed management in organic systems on CRP land