Management and Tillage Infl uence Barley Forage Productivity and Water Use in Dryland Cropping Systems

Annual cereal forages are resilient in water use (WU), water use efficiency (WUE), and weed control compared with grain crops in dryland systems. The combined influence of tillage and management systems on annual cereal forage productivity and WU is not well documented. We conducted a field study for the effects of tillage (no-till and tilled) and management (ecological and conventional) systems on WU and performance of forage barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and weed biomass in two crop rotations (wheat [Triticum aestivum L.]–forage barley–pea [Pisum sativum L.] and wheat–forage barley–corn [Zea mays L.] –pea) from 2004 to 2010 in eastern Montana. Conventional management included recommended seeding rates, broadcast N fertilization, and short stubble height of wheat. Ecological management included 33% greater seeding rates, banded N fertilization at planting, and taller wheat stubble. Forage barley in ecological management had 28 more plants m–2, 2 cm greater height, 65 more tillers m–2, 606 kg ha–1 greater crop biomass, 3.5 kg ha–1 mm–1greater WUE, and 47% reduction in weed biomass at harvest than in conventional management. Pre-plant and post-harvest soil water contents were similar among tillage and management systems, but barley WU was 13 mm greater in 4-yr than 3-yr rotation. Tillage had little effect on barley performance and WU. Dryland forage barley with higher seeding rate and banded N fertilization in more diversified rotation produced more yield and used water more efficiently than that with conventional seeding rate, broadcast N fertilization, and less diversified rotation in the semiarid northern Great Plains

Metabolic profiling of a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans Alzheimer model

Despite decades of research, no early-onset biomarkers are currently available for Alzheimer’s disease, a cureless neurodegenerative disease afflicting millions worldwide. In this study, transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans were used to investigate changes in the metabolome after induced expression of amyloid-β. GC- and LC–MS-based platforms determined a total of 157 differential features. Some of these were identified using in-house (GC–MS) or public libraries (LC–MS), revealing changes in allantoin, cystathionine and tyrosine levels. Since C. elegans is far better suited to metabolomics studies than most other model systems, the accordance of these findings with vertebrate literature is promising and argues for further use of C. elegans as a model of human pathology in the study of AD

Observation of parametric X-rays produced by 400 GeV/c protons in bent crystals

Spectral maxima of parametric X-ray radiation (PXR) produced by 400 GeV/c protons in bent silicon crystals aligned with the beam have been observed in an experiment at the H8 external beam of the CERN SPS. The total yield of PXR photons was about 10-6 per proton. Agreement between calculations and the experimental data shows that the PXR kinematic theory is valid for bent crystals with sufficiently small curvature as used in the experiment. The intensity of PXR emitted from halo protons in a bent crystal used as a primary collimator in a circular accelerator may be considered as a possible tool to control its crystal structure, which is slowly damaged because of irradiation. The intensity distribution of PXR peaks depends on the crystal thickness intersected by the beam, which changes for different orientations of a crystal collimator. This dependence may be used to control crystal collimator alignment by analyzing PXR spectra produced by halo protons.peer-reviewe

Nanopillar spin filter tunnel junctions with manganite barriers.

The potential of a manganite ferromagnetic insulator in the field of spin-filtering has been demonstrated. For this, an ultrathin film of Sm0.75Sr0.25MnO3 is integrated as a barrier in an epitaxial oxide nanopillar tunnel junction and a high spin polarization of up to 75% at 5 K has been achieved. A large zero-bias anomaly observed in the dynamic conductance at low temperatures is explained in terms of the Kondo scattering model. In addition, a decrease in spin polarization at low bias and hysteretic magneto-resistance at low temperatures are reported. The results open up new possibilities for spin-electronics and suggest exploration of other manganites-based materials for the room temperature spin-filter applications.This work was partially supported by the ERC Advanced Integrators Grant “SUPERSPIN”. B.P. was funded by the Nehru Trust for Cambridge University and St John’s College. The TEM work at Texas A&M was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF-DMR 0846504). The authors wish to thank Prof. J. Kumar (IIT Kanpur, India) for help in improving the manuscript.This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Nano Letters, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl500798